


Escape

by IAmAshamedOfMyFanfics (faraandmera)



Series: A MAMA powers AU thing [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Friendship, Gen, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), some fantasy elements, sorta found family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:39:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faraandmera/pseuds/IAmAshamedOfMyFanfics
Summary: The world brings them together, and they run until they no longer have to.
Relationships: Platonic OT12 - Relationship
Series: A MAMA powers AU thing [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575310
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You have superpowers?!”  
“Pretty much?”  
“There are others!” And all at once Chanyeol’s fear turns to confusion. Baekhyun nearly tackles Chanyeol, grin growing. “I have powers too! Can you believe the luck?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A rewrite of a very old story I wrote on tumblr (in 2014). In fact I think it was my first chaptered fic. it was only 2 chapters, but they were horrifyingly long, so i broken them up for this re-write. i've only rewritten half of it so far (the first chapter originally) but that still 5 chapters so... yeah.  
don't read the original.

“I’ve been looking for interesting headlines, internationally.”

“And?”

“Here, look.”

_May 16_ _ th _ _ 2005_

> _Twelve year old wins martial arts competition with competitors lading no hits._

_November 20_ _ th _ _ 2005_

> _Child Recovers mysteriously from terminal illness. Doctors baffled._

_March 17_ _ th _ _ 2007_

> _Unexpected snow storm hits small town in Korea, causing panic._

_May 10_ _ th _ _ 2007_

> _Mass reports of people seeing mysterious bright lights in the middle of the night._

_May 25_ _ th _ _ 2007_

> _Humidity levels increase well above expectations._

_January 12_ _ th _ _ 2008_

> _Earthquake strikes small town in Korea unexpectedly_

_April 20_ _ th _ _ 2008_

> _Assumed prank by children of city causes panic when mass reports of levitating objects reach police._

_January 23_ _ rd _ _ 2009_

> _Fifteen year old student goes missing only to turn up in nearby park unable to remember how he got there._

_September 21_ _ st _ _ 2009_

> _Lightning storm unexpectedly hits city, causing concerns._

_November 7_ _ th _ _ 2009_

> _Woman reports seeing strange object- or person- in the sky. Mass reports supporting this claim follow._

_November 27_ _ th _ _ 2009_

> _Fire set to high school with zero injuries. Police still unable to find culprit._

“This is… great and all, but most of these can easily be explained away,” Minseok says, sighing. He puts the list of articles to the side, eyeing Luhan. “And why did you include ours?”

“Because I thought they might help?” Luhan asks, as if it’s obvious. Minseok breathes another sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Come on. At least one of these has to help, right?”

“Well…” Minseok turns back to the articles, hair immediately falling back into his face. Luhan stifles a laugh while Minseok fights with his bangs. “It’s pretty old, but maybe that one from 2005, with the kid recovering suddenly?”

“Want to look into it?”

“Can you?” Minseok turns to Luhan, who nods simply. “I’ll look further into the more promising ones.”

“Guess I’ll be heading back to China, then.” Luhan grins at Minseok. “Good luck.”

“You too.”

“Reporter Luhan on the case. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

“I wasn’t until just now.”

“Hey! When have I ever let you down?” At the words, Minseok considers it. The answer is, simply, never. Since they met- a few years prior, on a forum in desperation to find someone like themselves- Luhan has yet to let Minseok down once.

“Never.”

“See.”

_February 5_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“This is our new student, Chanyeol.” Despite the excitement of a new student, their teachers monotone causes more than a few students to ignore him. Sir boring gives Chanyeol no chance to introduce himself beyond a small greeting, before sending him to an empty seat. Baekhyun briefly glances at the student- who’s getting small greetings from the nearest students- before looking back to the front.

A monotone lecture fills the next hour. An hour that feels wasted, with how little they actually learned from it. The bell rings, finally, and Chanyeol jumps to his feet, apparently never happier than to get out of the class.

“Hey, new kid.” Baekhyun’s words stop Chanyeol from rushing off to his elective class.

“Yes?” Chanyeol looks up from his bag, setting it on his desk. Startles when Baekhyun throws an arm over his shoulders.

“Need help finding your next class? Don’t worry, I’ll help.”

“Why?” Suspicion laces his tone, which Baekhyun doesn’t think is fair.

“I just wanted to be nice?”

“Oh is that it?”

“For sure.”

“Right, well… I’m Chanyeol. Not that you didn’t know that…”

“Oh, maybe I didn’t. Nobody listens to our teacher.” Baekhyun laughs. “I’m Baekhyun.”

_March 6_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Please don’t burn my mom’s kitchen down. Or my house. Or-” Baekhyun cuts himself off. “She’s already upset about what we did to the living room.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure you’re the one doing worse, here.” Despite his words, Chanyeol glares at the stove, running a hand through his black hair.

“Hey, I’m doing fine.” Baekhyun’s words aren’t convincing, when oil splatters and he shrieks.

“Why did we even take cooking?”

“We’re idiots.” Baekhyun’s words get a resigned nod from Chanyeol.

“You burnt it.”

“It’s _well done_, firstly.” Baekhyun turns to say something else, only to cough on the smoke the over-cooked piece of meat is producing.

“If that’s _well done_, then this is medium rare.” Chanyeol picks up a piece of meat they have yet to start cooking, waving it at Baekhyun. Baekhyun huffs, pouting, only to jump when Chanyeol’s pan- for lack of a better word- explodes. How this happens is less of a concern to Chanyeol than the fact that it happens. He stares at the quickly developing fire on the stove, as Baekhyun panics.

“Holy shit. How- how the hell?! What do we do?!” Baekhyun takes a few quick steps, to the doorway, while Chanyeol turns is back on the fire, to look at Baekhyun.

“Do- do you have a fire extinguisher?!”

“I don’t know!”

“How do you not know?!”

“I don’t know!” Baekhyun’s panic is strong enough to eliminate Chanyeol’s own panic. Slowly, determined, Chanyeol turns back to the fire. Then, with a sigh and great hesitance, he speaks.

“I’m… going to fix this. Promise not to freak out?”

“Okay?” Baekhyun steps behind the door frame, peaking around it as Chanyeol reaches out to the fire. Any words die on his tongue as the fire twists around his hands, and disappears. Chanyeol’s lack of surprise at this fills Baekhyun with multiple emotions all at once. “Did you just-”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol’s tone betrays worry, fear, but Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say.

Except, “you have superpowers?!”

“Pretty much?”.

“There are others!” And all at once Chanyeol’s fear turns to confusion. Baekhyun nearly tackles Chanyeol, grin growing. “I have powers too! Can you believe the luck?!”

“You- you what?” Chanyeol’s shock slowly turns to a grin. “Let’s be superhero’s.”

“I- um- don’t know about that idea.” Baekhyun takes a step back, looking away. “My powers- well- they might not help crime fighting much.”

“Why?”

“I can mess with- or make- light.” Baekhyun shrugs. “That’s about it.”

“You can blind people.” The statement is simple. Baekhyun’s head snaps back in Chanyeol’s direction, as his grin returns.

“How did I not think of that?! Let’s be superheroes!”

The moment is interrupted by Baekhyun’s mother’s shout of, “Baekhyun, I’m home!” The boys share a look of terror, as they look around the mess of a kitchen around them.

“We’re going to die before we get the chance,” Baekhyun whispers. Chanyeol nods in solemn agreement.

_March 26_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Minseok! Happy birthday!” Luhan whisper-shouts into his phone, as he’s sitting in a restaurant. Minseok’s laughter echos back at him.

“Thanks. How are things going over there?”

“I met the girl.” Luhan shrugs, despite Minseok’s inability to see him. “She was real nice, but couldn’t tell me anything about how she recovered. So there goes that lead.”

“I see.”

“But I made another post on the forum we met through, so we’ll see if that turns up anything. I’ll probably head back if I can’t find anything by may.”

“Alright. Be careful, okay?”

“I’m _always_ careful.” This get’s a scoff that Luhan can’t entirely argue with. “Usually careful.”

“Okay.”

“Happy birthday, I’ll call you soon, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks. I’ll let you know if I find anything, too.”

_April 12_ _ th _ _ 2010_

> _Wind storm hits Seoul unexpectedly._

_April 17_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“So, I’m Luhan,” Luhan greet’s the man across from him. The other- taller- man gives a small nod.

“Yixing.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Yixing’s nervousness is clear to Luhan, and he tries to smile reassuringly.

“So about what we talked about, before?”

“Your post, right…”

_April 20_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Twenty, here I am.” Luhan stretches his arms out, as he steps into the airport in Seoul. Minseok is already there, waiting for him, and laughs.

“Well there you are. Welcome back,” Minseok greets, simply. “How’d thing go?”

“That’s what you ask me about? What about my birthday? Don’t you love me at all?”

Minseok rolls his eyes. “Happy birthday, I bought you a cake. Now, how did things go?”

“Well I’m back early.”

“Mhm.”

“And I found someone!” Luhan turns around, motioning to Yixing, who stands there, awkwardly. Having been there the whole time, ignored. “He’s like us. His name is Yixing.”

“Oh.” Minseok blinks, surprised, at the other. Having not assumed he was here with Luhan, due to the significant distance Yixing is standing to the side. “Nice to meet you. I’m Minseok.”

Yixing takes Minseok’s hand, shaking it, when it’s held out. “Nice to meet you.”

The three make their way to Minseok and Luhan’s shared apartment, before further discussion happens. When it does, Minseok looks between Yixing and Luhan in astonishment. “Three days?”

“Yeah.” Luhan nods, from across the room, stuffing a piece of cake into his mouth.

“How’d he manage to convince you to come all the way to Korea if you met _three days ago?”_ Minseok turns to Yixing, who shrugs with a small laugh.

“Proving he had powers helped. I couldn’t really- well- ignore that fact.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Minseok nods. “I never asked, but what _are_ your powers?”

“I can heal things,” Yixing says, smiling in a way Minseok understands. Finally being able to say it without worry. “Anything living.”

“Well that seem helpful. Probably more than ours.”

“Hey my powers are super useful!” Luhan glares. When Minseok rolls his eyes, Luhan throws something at him with said power.

“Anyway…”

_May 6_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Happy birthday, Baekhyun.”

“Ah, sorta-adulthood. Chanyeol, you have to listen to me now, as your elder.”

“Can I take back my happy birthday, or?”

“Absolutely not.”

_May 8_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“So, you think this might be something?” Minseok passes his phone to Luhan, who looks at the news article. About a sudden wind storm.

“Maybe. It could be like you and your accidental snow storm.”

“But that doesn’t give us much to go on.” Yixing’s words get nods from the others. “Is this what you two have been doing all this time?”

“Yeah, basically.” Luhan shrugs. “We- well- we figure if we exist, maybe there are others. And if they’re by themselves, unable to tell anyone…”

Yixing nods, understanding. Minseok turns to him, before speaking. “So… want to join our efforts?”

“I did come all this way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh yeah obsession surprised me in how much i liked it.
> 
> anyway i haven't written for ot12 in a long time (i barely remember how to write zitao luhan or kris) so i'm mostly just keeping true to characterization from the original. but written better 
> 
> comments are always greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other’s name is Jongin, and Sehun tells him everything he knows.

_May 22_ _ nd _ _ 2010_

“An internship?” Junmyeon is surprised, to say the least. He hadn’t expected to see his parents on his birthday, until the day before. And he certainly hadn’t expected them to have gotten him a job, at that. Well- not _technically_ a job, as it was unpaid, but still. “You got me an internship?”

“Not an internship, _the_ internship. The one you were trying to get, remember? Well we managed to get a hold of an old friend, who talked to some people…”

“Seriously?” Junmyeon couldn’t hide his grin. Pulled his mother into a hug with thanks falling from his lips. “You’re the best.”

_June 28_ _ th _ _ 2010_

Kris was more than bored. He’d finished the task he was given for the day, so he continues pretending to work while being bored out of his mind. Couldn’t stop “working” when the big boss was in the same room as him, though. The downside of working alongside his father, he supposes.

Or was it the downside of working somewhere he didn’t really want to, because he would have to take over, eventually? He was never more relieved than when a knock on the door interrupted their work.

“Oh.” His father yells that whoever it is, can come in, before telling Kris, “it’s probably the new intern.”

Proving him correct, the man that enters introduces himself as such. “Hello, I was told to come see you. I’m the new intern.”

“Yes, you’ll be-” The phone rings, cutting him off. “Excuse me a moment.” After many words of affirmation pass between his father and the phone, his father turns to Kris. “Yifan, show the intern what to do, I have to handle some thing.”

With that he was gone, and two were left alone. “Right, well, you’re just going to be filing things.”

“Okay.”

“Just file everything numerically, it shouldn’t be complex. If you need any help,” Yifan finishes by motioning to himself.

“Okay,” the intern repeats. “I’m Junmyeon, by the way.” He holds out a hand, which Kris takes to shake. “And you’re Yifan?”

“Yeah.” A pause. “Call me Kris, actually.”

“Okay.”

_July 16_ _ th _ _ 2010_

_“Sixteen year old, Oh Sehun, escaped from a mental institution early this morning. Reports say that he may be very unstable, and in need of help-”_

“Unstable?” Sehun scoffs at the news report. He is, in his personal opinion, perfectly stable. Stares at the picture of himself on the news, and pulls his mask further over his face, covering his nose. The picture is old- older than he expects, though he realizes it might still be the most recent one anyone has. With so much of his face covered- and a hat on his head to hide the rest of his head- the doubts anyone will recognize him.

And, so, maybe going out of his way to dye his hair- of all things- a rainbow wasn’t his best idea. But it was covered, and he felt a rebellious sort of satisfaction at having done so.

“Just because they don’t believe doesn’t mean I’m crazy,” Sehun mutters to himself, as he turns to leave. Stuffs his hands into his coat pockets, and continues walking out of the city. He can’t afford to just stand around being angry at news articles.

He has eleven people to find.

_July 30_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Did…you just…” Kris stands, stunned. Junmyeon turns to him, panicked, water dropping to the ground. Said water that Kris is fairly sure Junmyeon moved just a moment earlier without so much as touching it.

“I-” panic- “yes.” Too late, Junmyeon seems to realize he should have said _no_.

“Okay.”

“You’re… pretty clam about this.” Junmyeon doesn’t seem to be at calm as Kris feels. So he speaks, simply.

“I can fly.” As if it was an everyday fact, Kris shrugs. Junmyeon’s panic turns to surprise, then amusement. Then realization.

“So if both of us have powers…” Junmyeon shakes his head, gathering hit thoughts. “Maybe there are others?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Should we- like- try to find out?”

“Probably.”

As the realization there might be others hits him, Kris feels a little sick to his stomach.

_August 19_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“You know,” Jongin’s best friend starts, while Jongin rolls his eyes, already knowing what’s coming. “Most people would have created some new identity by now, if they knew they had superpowers.”

“Yeah, but what’s the point in that?” Jongin shrugs, turning back to his homework. “I don’t want to be a superhero, or anything. Not unless it’ll get me out of classes.”

“So selfish.” His friend- Taemin- laughs. Jongin feels the need to point out that the other would absolutely say the same thing, in his position. Doesn’t get the chance before the other speaks, though. “Oh well. It’d probably interfere with competitions, anyway.”

“So you’re say you want me to be one?” Jongin turns to Taemin, grinning. “So you can win, I mean.”

“I can win already, thanks.”

“I have bad news for you.”

“Do your homework.” Taemin throws a pencil at Jongin, who barely moves to avoid it.

“See. You know.”

“Sorry, which of us won a contest first?”

“Low blow.”

_August 20_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Hey you two!” Sehun’s yelling gets the attention of the two in question. Though he really only needs to talk to one of them. The one who he’s fairly sure he was told about. The one who must have a power, too.

“Um, hi?” The other one greets, and Sehun would normally try to be polite. But this situation means he doesn’t have time for that.

“You.” Sehun turns to point at the other. “Please, listen. I know this sounds weird, but you can teleport, right?”

“What?” The surprised- almost offended- expression barely covers panic. “Are you insane?”

“Don’t lie to me!” Sehun glares, before shaking his head. The word too easily gets to him, but he knows anyone would lie, if some stranger asked them such a thing. Would react the same way. “You don’t know what I’ve had to do, to find you. We need to find- there are others-”

“What?” The one without powers asks. Seems upset when Sehun turns to glare. Sehun tries to return to neutral expression, before responding.

“Sorry I’m- I cant talk to people who don’t know about this. Though…” Sehun eyes the other, realizing he barely reacted to Sehun’s accusation of the other having a power. “You probably know about your- uh- friend?”

“Sure, sure.” And, after a moments pause, he turns to the one with powers. “I’ll see you, okay?”

Left alone, the remaining two stand in silence, for a moment. Then, finally, the one with powers turns to Sehun, looking skeptical. “You really aren’t kidding, are you?”

“No.”

“You… want to explain?”

“Yes, but not here.”

They return to the other’s home, though he seems hesitant to let Sehun in. Once they’re in the other’s room they exchange names. The other’s name is Jongin, and Sehun tells him everything he knows.

“So… let me see if I’ve got this right.”

“Mhm.”

“You, me, and ten others have powers.” Jongin waits until Sehun nods, before continuing. “The _tree of life_ talks to you, in your sleep, and explained all of this to you. So you need to find all of us, for some reason, and you found me first because I can teleport. So you want me to go with you, to find the rest?”

“Exactly.” Sehun nods, again. “It- um- sounds a lot weirder out loud.”

“And you… dyed your hair rainbow.”

“What?”

“That seemed like an important detail.” Jongin shrugs, and Sehun finds himself laughing at the this. “Alright. I’ll go.”

“Wait- really?! It was that easy?”

“Yeah. I have to get some things, and say goodbye to some people first, though.”

“You- you really aren’t going to say I’m crazy or teleport away so I can’t find you?”

“No?” Jongin eyes Sehun like he’s reconsidering this, though. “I’ll meet you at the park tomorrow, okay?”

“Alright!”

_August 21_ _ st _ _ 2010_

“So… that’s what’s going on.” Jongin’s reciting of the situation get’s a nod from Taemin.

“You…okay. Just don’t get yourself killed, alright?”

“Got it.” With a grin, Jongin nods. “On the bright side, you’ll definitely win the next competition now.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be leaving, asshole?”

“Yeah.” Jongin turns to go with a wave. “See you.”

“Be careful.”

In the next instant, Jongin is no longer in his friends bedroom, but in the park.

“Hey, Sehun, you here?”

“Yeah.” Jongin spins around to find Sehun behind him. “Ready to go, then?”

“Yep. Said goodbye to everyone. Well… I left a note for my parents, but let’s not worry about that.”

Sehun eyes him, frowning, before nodding. “Right…”

“Let’s go then.”

“Sure, Jongin.” Sehun nods.

“Oh- you should call me Kai, now.”

“Why?”

“Alias, duh. In case someone’s looking for me.”

Sehun frowns, but doesn’t point out that he’s the one in the news, not Jongin. “Okay, well, we’re going north…”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the actual hell?!”
> 
> “What are you doing underground?!” The person’s yelling hits him, too loud in the small space.
> 
> “What are _you_ doing underground?” Kyungsoo throws back.

_September 10_ _ th _ _ 2010_

The town is beyond small. There is, maybe, twenty families, and almost everyone knows each other. This comes with some positives, like everyone helping each other out, generally. But it also comes with some negatives. Like the fact that everyone is involved in each other’s lives, even when they shouldn’t be. Kyungsoo likes his neighbors, and all, but it was sort of exhausting when his mother insists they get involved in whatever project they needed help with.

With this mindset, it’s only natural he’d need to find himself somewhere to hide. To get privacy. Two years ago, he found one in the form of his power to control earth. Once he learned to control it, it was easy enough to create a hiding place only he could access, underground.

A borrowed lamp, and blanket, a book or pillow, and he was set. All tucked in a nice hole in the ground that only he could access.

Today, after a day of helping his neighbor build a new porch, he hides himself in the space. It’s not an unusual action, at this point. Expects himself to have peace, for a while.

So you can imagine his surprise when someone finds him. When he’s nearly crushed as a person appears _out of nowhere_ in the space.

“What the _actual hell?!”_

“What are you doing underground?!” The person’s yelling hits him, too loud in the small space.

“What are _you_ doing underground?” Kyungsoo throws back.

“Can we- please- have this conversation above ground?” And he’s gone. Kyungsoo considers that he may be losing his mind, before he breathes a sigh and makes his way back above ground. The person from before- shaking dirt out of his hair- stands next to another person he also doesn’t recognize.

“So…” The first person refuses to meet Kyungsoo’s gaze. “What the fuck?”

“What-” The first person starts, finally facing him, only to be cut off by the second.

“You must be the earth controller, then.” The words catch Kyungsoo off guard enough to give the other a chance to continue. “We’ve got to explain something to you.”

“I’d sure hope so.”

Over the course of the next few minutes, Kyungsoo decides the two are certifiably insane. One going along with something completely illogical- unreasonable- for no reason. The other speaking to a magic tree, apparently. They’re both crazy, for sure.

And Kyungsoo must be too, because he one hundred percent believes they’re telling the truth. That they’re right.

“So there are twelve of us.” A nod. “And we need to find all of them.”

“Yes.” The second nods again.

“Just one more question.”

“Of course.”

“You want to tell me your names, or?”

“Oh. I’m Oh Sehun.” Sehun holds out a hand, which Kyungsoo shakes before realization hits him.

“Wait. The kid from the news? Who escaped a mental institution?”

“Maybe…” Somehow Kyungsoo isn’t surprised. If he’d told anyone without powers any of this, he was sure to get locked up.

“And you?” Kyungsoo turns to the other.

“Jongi- I mean. Kai.”

“Nice to meet you both, I guess.”

_September 14_ _ th _ _ 2010_

_“Missing persons reports-”_

“What are you watching?”

“News,” Baekhyun answers, monotone. Chanyeol nods, frowning. “Lot’s of kids going missing, recently.”

_“Oh Sehun, who last July-”_

“That’s terrible,” Chanyeol mutters, dropping next to Baekhyun on the couch. Baekhyun nods.

“I wonder if something happened.”

_“-still no news. Kim Jongin, sixteen, ran away from home two weeks ago and there are still no leads. If you have seen-”_

“If they ran away from home, they probably don’t _want_ to be found.” Minseok sighs, leaning back in his chair. As sad as the whole thing is, it’s not any help to them.

“Their families are probably losing their minds. I feel bad for them.” Luhan’s muttering gets a nod from Yixing.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo starts. “I get Sehun, but what’s your excuse?”

“What?” Jongin looks away. “What was I supposed to tell them?”

“I convinced my mom I was going into an exchange program.” Kyungsoo’s reminder gets a frown from Jongin.

“Well… whatever. It’s too late _now_.”

_September 18_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“I think I found a lead,” Junmyeon says, handing his laptop to Kris. “This person here seems like they might know something. Should I try contacting them?”

“They could be some weirdo.” Kris looks over the post. And as much as he stands by that concern… “We should try.”

_September 20_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Are you Junmyeon?” Minseok asks, as he- along with Luhan and Yixing- approach the table. Two men sit there, one of which he’s sure is Junmyeon, the one he’d been talking two, the past couple of days.

“Yes, I am. And you must be Minseok?”

“Yeah. And this is Luhan, and Yixing.”

“Hello!” Luhan greets. Takes it upon himself to be the first of their group to sit down.

“Nice to meet you.” Yixing bows, then shakes hands with the two.

“I’m Kris.” The other stranger introduces himself, as Minseok and Yixing sit down.

There’s an awkward silence, before the group engages in conversation far unrelated to their meeting. Uncomfortable tension covering the group, as they delay the conversation they’re here to have. Minseok finds himself feeling anxious, a twisting in his gut. What if this is pointless? If these people don’t actually know anything, or think of this as some sort of joke, what a waste of time that will be.

In his thoughts, Minseok doesn’t realize the cold beginning to cover their table. Their drinks turning solid under Minseok’s power’s influence. Luhan elbows him.

“Minseok, can you not freeze everything, please?” His whispering isn’t subtle enough not to get the rest of the table’s attention, but Minseok doesn’t register this until Junmyeon’s muttering reaches him.

“What the…”

“What- um- could have done that?” Minseok is suddenly very aware of how poor a liar he is. Luhan mutters something like, “oh my god,” as he tries to muffle laughter.

“Well.” Kris speaks, for what Minseok thinks can’t be more than the fifth time. “This is great to confirm, and all, but people will probably notice if we’re frozen to the table.”

“Sorry.” Minseok focuses on unfreezing everything, instead of the looks of the others.

At least Junmyeon and Kris’s lack of surprise proves the meeting isn’t a waste of time.

_October 7_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Happy birthday, Yixing,” Junmyeon says, as he joins everyone else in Minseok’s living room. Though it had only been a few weeks, the group have all become fairly close. All living in the same city, and their shared powers, made that easy.

“You know what I think you need to celebrate?” Luhan leans around the kitchen door, to look into the living room. “A code name.”

“Why would he need that?” Minseok shakes his head, moving so Junmyeon has room to sit on the couch.

“Because they’re cool? And he has a superpower?” Luhan hums. “In fact, we should all have them.”

“Voting in favour of everyone except Luhan getting a code name?”

“Hey!”

“Agreed,” Kris and Yixing respond at the same time.

“You all suck.” Luhan frowns. “Kris doesn’t get one either! We already don’t call him by his name.”

“Okay.” Kris shrugs, seeming unconcerned.

“And I get to come up with them.”

“Is… he serious?” Junmyeon asks, softly. Yixing nods, laughing.

“Completely.”

_October 9_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“I got it!” Luhan stands, suddenly, facing Yixing. “Yixing should be Lay.”

“Why-”

“Sh. Don’t question, just accept it.”

“I worry about you.” Minseok says, from the kitchen.

“But- why- why Lay?” Yixing’s muttering gets a pat on the shoulder from Luhan.

“No question. Only acceptance.”

“Really worry,” Minseok says, quietly.

“I heard that!”

“I know.”

_October 12_ _ th _ _ 2010_

Now, Baekhyun generally thought he handled things pretty well. His house being broken into, however, wasn’t something he could say for sure he handled well.

“Who are you and why are you in my house?” Baekhyun holds up a remote, trying to be threatening. “I’m warning you.”

“Warning of us of what?” One of the intruders mutters.

“We’re here to tell you about your powers,” The one with rainbow hair says. “Unless it’s someone else in this house, in which case: we’re a figment of your imagination.”

“How did you know about them?” Baekhyun asks before thinking that _maybe_ he shouldn’t have so easily admitted he had them. Baekhyun curses to himself.

“They’re crazy,” the final of the group says, shrugging. “But they’ll explain.”

So Baekhyun let’s them explain, and through the conversation slowly lowers the remote in his hand. As the explanation sets in Baekhyun has a lot of thoughts- worries- that he pushes aside.

“So we _are_ superheros?” Baekhyun feels like he’s taking this pretty well, all things considered. “Sweet. I gotta tell Chanyeol.”

“Wait-” Sehun grabs Baekhyun’s arm- “you can’t just tell anyone.”

“But he… has a power too?”

“Oh.”

“I’ll call him! And you can explain it to him, too.”

“You’re all nuts.” Chanyeol concludes. “I’m in.”

“Me too!” Baekhyun adds, holding up a hand. Kai tries not to laugh, and Kyungsoo mutters about them being weird. “I heard that.”

Sehun rolls his eyes at the group, knowing that they’re _all_ weird.

_October 16_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Your mom was easier to convince than I expected.”

“Maybe we’ve destroyed her house too many times. She _wants_ me gone.” Baekhyun gasps, faux hurt on his face.

“Oh, of course. Poor boy.” Chanyeol grins, patting Baekhyun on the back. Baekhyun retaliates by kicking him, which Chanyeol doesn’t think is quite fair. “Well, let’s go. We have people to find!”

“Onward to adventure!” Baekhyun’s fake pouting disappears immediately.

“Do we really have to bring all of them with us?” Kai asks, staring at the two in front of him. “Can’t we just pick them up later?”

“_Yes_, we have to bring them.” Sehun nods, eyeing Kai. “Besides, they could be worse.”

“At least _they_ don’t have the police looking for them.” Kyungsoo’s addition from behind them get’s Kai to breathe a heavy sigh. Kyungsoo doesn’t look up from his phone as he speaks. “Speaking of… they are _really_ looking for you two.”

“Everyone but me made excuses to their parents.” Kai frowns, sighing. Thinks of trying to make excuses, and how likely that would have led to arguments. Maybe this is the better option, but- “Sehun, why didn’t you warn me?”

“How was I supposed to know?” A scoff. “I’m not responsible for you being dumb.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, are you two fighting?” Chanyeol asks, laughing. Kai reaches forward to halfheartedly hit him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Others, he says. Zitao knows logic says he should leave. Even if it’s true, that doesn’t mean he can trust these strangers. And yet…  
Others. It’s not just him.  
“Okay.”

_October 19_ _ th _ _ 2010_

Jongdae sighs, pulling a pillow over his head. His attempts to block out noise from his family in the other room does nothing. Apparently they thought watching TV was more important than his sleep schedule. He _could_ out the power again, but he was sure his parents were ready to investigate why that was happening so often.

A glance at the clock tells Jongdae it’s almost midnight. He mutters to himself, “can’t they be quiet for like an hour?” And breathes a sigh. It’s _Tuesday_, for gods sake.

_October 20_ _ th _ _ 2010_

Due to his lack of sleep, the day passes at an agonizingly slow pace. Jongdae thinks he got exactly _zero_ sleep, and he feels as bad as he probably looks. Reaches up to fix his hair as he waits for the final school bell to ring. When it finally comes, he shoots up immediately. Already ready to go, he rushes from the classroom. Doesn’t stop at his locker, or at all, until he’s home.

Jongdae drops onto his bed for a few hours of sleep before his parents or siblings can get home. He made it home within thirty minutes, giving him a solid four hours before anyone else gets home. What he hopes is four hours of sleep, though that hope is immediately crushed by a knock at the door.

Just his luck.

Jongdae opens the door with a glare, frowning at the group of teenagers outside of it. They can’t be far from his age, but he doesn’t recognize any of them. “Hello?”

“Hey- yo- so you have powers you can't explain?” One of them starts. Jongdae blinks, startled. “Because boy, have we got news for you.”

“Wha-”

“Baekhyun, no!”

“What it’s true?”

“That’s now how you break this to someone. What if it isn’t him?”

“Guys…he’s still right there.” They all turn back to him, and Jongdae stares.

“What the actual hell? What are you even talking about?”

“Superpowers!” The one that is apparently _Baekhyun_, says.

“Yeah I… figured that much out.”

“If you have them, we have some explanations to give you.”

“Sure…” What did he have to lose- sleep aside- by letting them explain. If they could show up, knowing he had powers, there must be _something_ to what they’re saying, right?

“You’re all insane.” Jongdae nods to himself. Who in their right mind would believe _any_ of that, let alone all of it. Except, maybe, himself.

”That’s what I said,” Kyungsoo agrees.

“Yet you came with us, anyway,” Kai says, to which Kyungsoo shrugs.

“Twelve is a lot of people,” Jongade says, regaining their attention.

“Sure, but look-” Chanyeol motions around them- “Half of us are here already.”

Jongdae sighs. Even if he did- even though he does- believe them, he can’t just up and leave whenever he wants. “Okay, but… I can’t really leave with you guys on such short notice.”

“We can give you some time to make an excuse to leave?” Sehun’s hopeful expression almost has Jongdae immediately caving. “We have to gather everyone, you included.”

“Fine,” Jongdae says, caving immediately. “I’ll- I’ll convince my parents I’m doing an exchange program, or something. Give me a week, or so.”

“See,” Kyungsoo says, directed at Kai. Jongdae doesn’t know what that’s about, but the other mocks hurt, frowning.

“Shut up. Not everyone’s parents would believe that.”

“Should I ask?” At Jongdae’s question, Sehun shakes his head, seeming exhausted.

“No.”

_November 6_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Another birthday,” Junmyeon says, yet again joining everyone in Luhan and Minseok’s living room.

“This is the most I think I’ve celebrated in a year.” Luhan grins, and Minseok rolls his eyes.

“It’s been- like- four.”

“Four is a lot.”

“I’m glad we’re so focused on my birthday,” Kris adds, voice laced with sarcasm. He laughs when Luhan turns, apologetic.

“Sorry, sorry.” The apology is waved off.

“I’m kidding.”

“Still. Happy birthday.” Luhan hands Kris a box.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t blame me if Luhan go you something weird.”

“Minseok!”

“Every time,” Yixing mutters. Junmyeon laughs next to him.

“Amazing.”

“You’re all amazingly predictable.” Kris shakes his head with a smile.

“He can smile!”

“You act like that’s the first time.” Yixing shakes his head at Luhan, who laughs.

“It’s rare though.”

“Literally not at all.”

“Shush.”

_November 12_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“You did great.”

“Thank you.”

“That was amazing.”

“Thank you.”

“See you next time.”

“Yeah.”

“Zitao, come on. We’ve got to celebrate.”

“Sure.” Zitao rolls his eyes, following his father. He’d just won a competition. He should feel proud. He doesn’t. it’s hard to feel proud, to feel victorious, when he cheated. When he used his power to win. But he couldn’t afford to lose.

“That was amazing. I still can’t believe it.”

“Thanks.” It isn’t amazing. Zitao wants to argue, to say he slowed down time, to win. He cheated. But what was he supposed to do? He’d been doing this for too long, expectations too high, and they would come crashing down if he didn’t.

_November 13_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Hey, Luhan.”

“Yeah?” Luhan looks up at Minseok, as the other drops down next to him.

“I said I didn’t think so before, but after more research, I think that first article you gave me might be something.”

“The one with the kid wining a martial arts competition?”

“Yeah.” Minseok hands Luhan an old newspaper article. “I looked him up. The kid hasn’t lose a single competition. Obviously I can’t assume without evidence that he’s using a power to do it, but it seems odd. It’s as good a lead as any.”

“We should find him then!” Luhan hands the article back. “It’s all the way in China, though. I guess I could take another trip-”

“I asked Kris to go.”

“What? Why?”

“Because he doesn’t need to pay to fly.”

“Oh.” Luhan nods. “Makes sense.”

_November 14_ _ th _ _ 2010_

Zitao is ninety percent sure that guy is following him. In a fight, Zitao is sure he can win, but that doesn’t keep it from freaking him out. Finally, after far too much walking, and being followed, Zitao spins. Tries and fails to keep his tone even.

“Why are you following me?!” Thanks to the empty area, there’s no one to notice except the guy. Who jump, startled, and puts a hand to his own chest.

“I- I’m not.” His denial is weak, at best. Zitao glares.

“Liar.”

After a pause, the man sighs. “Are you Zitao?” Regret forms on his face, as Zitao’s glare grows.

“Yes?” No point in denying it. He’d been in the news more than once.

“Do you- uh-” The man clears his throat. “Do you have powers?”

That’s a horrible, stupid, question. Zitao can’t believe anyone would ask such a thing, or expect a positive answer to it. “Yes.” Wait. Zitao curses himself, shakes his head, and tries to cover it. “I mean-”

“So do I.”

“What?!”

“And a few others.”

_Others_, he says. Zitao knows logic says he should leave. Even if it’s true, that doesn’t mean he can trust these strangers. And yet…

_Others_. It’s not _just him._

“Okay.”

_November 22_ _ nd _ _ 2010_

Kris doesn’t know how he manages it, but he convinces Zitao he’s telling the truth. Maybe the other just wants to believe, but Kris doesn’t even have to prove it for his explanation to get nodding, agreement. Kris mentally pats himself on the back for a successful mission.

It seems the teens parents are pretty gullible, though, which makes him worry the same is true of the kid, and that’s why. After all, they easily believe Zitao’s story of thinking he can learn from someone in Korea. That he had a- conveniently paid for- trip if he wanted to do so. They agreed to let him go, with promises to check in with them regularly.

They arrive in the city- via plane- and are greeted by the others only a week after meeting, though it is very late by the time they arrive.

“So I was right, huh.” Luhan grins. “The articles did help.”

“Yes, they did. Good job.” Despite Minseok’s sarcasm, and rolling of his eyes, he smiles at the other. Then he turns to the new arrival. “Nice to meet you, Zitao.”

“Oh, right. Nice to meet you,” Luhan adds, before Zitao can respond. He echos their greetings back, while Kris looks between the three. Specifically Luhan and Minseok.

“Where’s the other two?”

“Yixing’s working. He got a job.” Kris hums in acknowledgement, as Minseok continues. “Junmyeon is acquiring us a car.”

“Acquiring?” Luhan questions, tilting his head.

“What? It’s the right word.”

“Just sounded odd.”

“Leave me alone.”

“How could I do that?”

“Easily?”

“Are they always like that?” Zitao looks amused, if nothing else.

“Pretty much.”

_November 27th 2010_

“Happy day of birth, Chanyeol!”

“Oh no, do I have to be responsible, now that I’m older?” Chanyeol fakes concern. “Will I have to look after the kids?”

“They are quite bothersome.”

“I’m going to kill you both,” Kyungsoo mutters, watching Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Chanyeol celebrate. If celebrating means mocking everyone younger than them.

“Please do.” Kai sighs, leaning back in the hotel room chair. The group mostly paid for the room with money they had foresight to bring, or recently from Jongdae’s bank account. It wasn’t a long-term plan for keeping money, but what could they do? (Except, maybe, teleport in secretly, but that came with more risks.)

“Don’t. We need them, or something,” Sehun mutters, half awake.

“Oh, the children look tried. I guess they _are_ young. They need their rest.” Baekhyun hides behind Jongdae when Kyungsoo glares, though he doesn’t expect the other to actually do anything.

“Tired of you existing, maybe.”

“Kyungsoo, no.” Baekhyun pouts, faux hurt on his face. Jongdae and Chanyeol laugh at him.

“I think we’ve teased them too much,” The former says.

“Cake then?” Chanyeol grins at the last-second purchase. Noises of agreement follow immediately.

“The tree… says…” Sehun falls over, out of his chair, clearly asleep. The others turn, startled, and Kai helps the other back into the chair. They share looks of confusion and concern, but Sehun’s muttering continues. “Others… together…”

“What?”

“I think it means the others are together?” Kai frowns. “That makes our job easier, I guess.”

“Oh.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh no.” The mans voice breaks the moment. He looks more amused than concerned, which none of them know how to take. “A bunch of crazy teens found my house.”  
“We’re not crazy-” Chanyeol starts, only to be interrupted.  
“I know.” The man nods, offering a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter i have re-written at this point, so there's going to be a bit more delay until the next chapter, but it shouldn't take that long.

_December 16_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“You’d think them being together would have made this easier.”

“We found them, though.”

“_Maybe_ we did. Knock on the door.” Nobody moves, until finally Jongdae does as asked, with a sigh.

A man answers. He’s fairly short- looks pretty young- and looks at them in confusion. “Hello?”

“So about super-” Baekhyun is cut off by Sehun slapping a hand over his mouth.

“We are not doing that again.”

“Oh come on,” Baekhyun starts, after pushing Sehun away. “If they have superpowers then that’s the easiest way to tell them.”

“Damn it,” Kyungsoo whispers.

“Oh no.” The mans voice breaks the moment. He looks more amused than concerned, which none of them know how to take. “A bunch of crazy teens found my house.”

“We’re not crazy-” Chanyeol starts, only to be interrupted.

“I know.” The man nods, offering a smile. “Not sure how you found me, though.”

“What?” The entire group is filled with confused surprise, except Sehun.

“Guys we knew they were all together…”

“Unless you were kidding about the superpower thing?”

“So you do know what I’m talking about!” Baekhyun grins.

“Kind of.”

“Wow,” Luhan says, in pure disbelief. Junmyeon agrees wholeheartedly with the statement.

“That’s a lot to take in,” Junmyeon says, finally. The first to give more than surprise.

“We know, but it’s true,” One of them says. Junmyeon hasn’t learned their names, so he doesn’t know which. He turns back to his own group.

Yixing’s belief in their words in clear in his general calm. He looks a bit confused, but otherwise accepting. Luhan- who had nodded along with their explanations- seems completely convinced. Minseok seems less convinced, if just because it was a lot. The tree of life stuff, more than the powers themselves. Kris, on the other hand, had accept the explanation right away. And Zitao had just seemed grateful to have some reason for his power.

“It’s a bit hard to believe,” Junmyeon says after a pause.

“It is.” Another of them responds. “I didn’t really believe it either, but how else would you explain the powers in the first place?”

“I guess…” Minseok nods from beside Junmyeon. “I think we should discuss this.”

We meaning his own group of friends, he motions to them. The teens seem to understand, and one of them stands.

“Okay. How about we come back in a few days?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”

“Alright, we’ll do that, then.” Then he turns and motions for the others to stand. Some are more reluctant, but they all do. “And you can take this as evidence.”

He reaches out, and the others seem to understand. They all latch onto each other, and one of them smirks before they disappear all at once.

“Teleportation,” Luhan whispers. “Cool.”

“Luhan, focus.”

“I _am_ focused. But look at that!”

“I know.”

“So about what they said-”

_December 17_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“You think they believe us?” Sehun’s worried pacing has been going on for the past day, and the others have taken to ignoring it.

“Who knows.” Kai shrugs. Browses news reports on Baekhyun’s phone with nothing better to do. “That’s why we’re giving them time to figure out if they do.”

“Yeah, but- if they don’t-”

“Then we’ll have to convince them.” Kai shrugs, sitting up. He faces Sehun, who finally stops. “You talk in your sleep, you know? Maybe we should let them see that.”

“I…what?”

“Talk in your sleep. Because of the tree, I’d guess.” Another shrug. Sehun runs a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“Oh my god.”

“Have you seen my phone-” Baekhyun enters the room, and immediately frowns at Kai. Or, more accurately, the phone in his hand. “Seriously?”

“I had to check the news.” Kai hands it over, easily, while Baekhyun continues to frown.

_December 18_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“So… we’re all in agreement we believe them?” Junmyeon looks over the group.

“I think so.” With Luhan’s nodding, the others give their own agreement.

“Okay.”

_December 19_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“We should just go see them now,” Baekhyun whines from where he lays upside down. “I’m bored.”

“We should give them another day, just in case.” Kyungsoo’s reasoning is something the others can’t argue. Jongdae gives a small noise of agreement as he tosses pencils at a sleeping Chanyeol.

“Who wants chicken?” Kai asks, from the floor, where he’s cutting out coupons.

“Me!” Sehun, Baekhyun, and Jongdae echo, as Kyungsoo gives a small, “sure.”

“Okay.” Kai disappears just as Jongdae throws another pencil.

“Ow! Was that a pencil?”

“Shit he woke up.”

“What the hell?”

_December 20_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“So you… believe us?” Sehun asks, hesitant.

“Yes.” Junmyeon’s response fills Sehun with relief.

“Great!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol say at the same time.

“That makes this easier.” Kai.

“We should celebrate.” Luhan and Jongdae. They share a grin.

“Any excuse to celebrate with you.” Minseok sighs.

“It’ll be good for us to get to know each other.” Yixing. Kris and Kyungsoo make a noise of agreement.

“Celebration it is.” Zitao.

_December 24_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Merry Christmas,” Kai mutters, glaring out of the window.

“Christmas eve,” Kyungsoo says. The halfhearted correction mumbled in his half awake state.

“Whatever.”

“You seem upset.”

“Why would I be?”

“Jongin.” Kyungsoo opens his eyes, to look at the other. “Why didn’t you make up an excuse, to your parents?”

They’d had this conversation before, but…

“I originally discovered my powers because I wanted to run away.”

Nothing else is said between the two. Kyungsoo leans against him, patting Jongin’s leg.

“I don't think this is the intended purpose.” Sehun pulls tinsel from his hair. Zitao laughs at him.

“Probably not. Have you never used it before? It’s for the tree.”

“I haven’t celebrated Christmas in- like- six years. And it wasn’t a big thing for me, anyway. I was never even allowed near the tree.” There’s something sad in the words, that Zitao tries to ignore. Instead he gasps, pretending this is the most shocking thing Sehun has ever said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you all about Christmas.”

“That sound _really_ weird, you know that? Are you a creepy old man?”

“You’re annoying.”

“This is bullying.”

“They’re going to ruin my living room.” Minseok frowns at the two who were tasked with decorating the tree.

“They’re fine.” Luhan laughs, and hands Minseok a drink. He turns to hand Junmyeon one, too, just as the later speaks.

“If you’re that worried, why’d you tell them to do it in the first place?” Junmyeon smiles, thanking Luhan.

“They asked.” Minseok shrugs. “They seemed like they… needed it.”

“I wonder if it’ll snow.” Luhan changes the topic, looking over to the window. None of them have addressed the lives the teens have had, that lead them to so easily traveling unsupervised. Nor how easily Zitao’s parents allowed him to go to a whole new country. They don’t even know if they _should_ be worried about some of them, or if some of them were just really good at lying to their families.

“Do you want it to?” Minseok’s words break Luhan out of his thoughts. Right, snow.

“Yes, please.” A nod, excited. Minseok laughs.

“If you want it to snow… I’ll consider it.” Minseok takes a sip from his cup, while Luhan pouts. Junmyeon laughs.

“I wouldn’t mind if it snowed, too.” Junmyeon turns to look around the living room. “We should ask the others.”

Luhan immediately rushes off to do just that.

“Are we sure he isn’t a kid, too?”

“No.”

“Snow?” Kris looks up at Luhan, surprised. “Sure?”

“Yes! Thanks.” With that Luhan turns to Yixing, next to Kris. “Yixing, do you want it to snow?”

“Um, yes? It might be nice.”

“Great.” And then Luhan is off to bother others.

“He’s sure excited.” At Kris’s words, Yixing laughs.

“Is Luhan going around asking everyone if they want it to snow?” Jongdae asks, watching as Luhan approaches Kai and Kyungsoo.

“What’s the point of that?” Baekhyun mutters, as he tries to tape a box closed. “Snow _would_ be nice, though. All light outside, even though it’s night.”

“A white Christmas.” Chanyeol grins, leaning back in his chair. “It would be nice. We could make a snowman, or something.”

“You’re such a kid.”

“How dare you.”

“Everyone said yes!” Luhan slides to a stop next to the kitchen counter. Minseok across from him laughs. “Snow?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll make it snow.”

“I almost expected you to say, “make it rain,” for some reason,” Junmyeon mutters. Minseok makes his way to approach the window, while Luhan laughs at Junmyeon.

“No, that’s you.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. It works with both the literal meaning, and the money meaning.”

“I don’t even have that much money-”

“Make it rain, Junmyeon.”

“You’ve…had too much to drink.”

“I’ve had nothing to drink!”

“What’re you doing?” Kyungsoo asks, as Minseok leans against the window.

“Checking outside. Making snow.”

“You’re…what?” Kai looks surprised for a moment, before shaking his head. “Oh, that’s your power, right?”

“Ice is. But snow is just ice, so sorta.”

“Snow!” Sehun surprises everyone by being the first to call out the snowfall, and to seem the most excited. Maybe that was just because they hadn’t spent any time with him not related to their powers.

“Let’s go outside!” Luhan’s excitement is a close second, though.

“Luhan no, wait, you don’t have nearly enough layers for that.” Junmyeon grabs Luhan’s arm, before the other can take off.

“Oh come on _mom_, it’s just snow.”

“I have extra coats.” Minseok motions towards his bedroom. Most of the group rushes off to get them.

Within minutes everyone except Minseok, Yixing, Junmyeon, and Kris are rushing outside. Minseok follows them out, slower, partially to make sure he hasn’t overdone it with the snow.

“Is wanting us not to get sick really being-called-mom material?” Junmyeon mutters, pulling on his own coat to follow the others. Kris nods.

“Congrats, you’re group mom now. Every group needs one.” Kris is halfway through the door, as he speak, and Junmyeon follows while rolling his eyes.

“Then who’s group dad?” Yixing pulls on gloves, and looks between the two.

“I’m _not_ group mom.”

“No you definitely are.” Kris nods. Junmyeon shoves him.

“Kris then.” Yixing nods to himself, closing the door behind them.

“I’m not the dad.”

“Guys! The parents are here!” Yixing ignores the surprise from the two, as he makes his way to the group.

“You kind of are group dad.”

“Is that a proposal?”

“I can, and will, strangle you.”

_December 25_ _ th _ _ 2010_

“Merry Christmas!” Zitao yells, as midnight hits. Baekhyun and Chanyeol cheer. Minseok laughs at them, before reminding them to quiet down. Looks up at the sky, and stops the snowfall, thinking there’s enough.

“Merry Christmas.” Sehun laughs, throwing a snowball at Chanyeol. Chanyeol shrieks, tumbling to the ground when he jumps. Sehun laughs at him.

“Such cruelty.” Kyungsoo shakes his head, with light laughter.

Minseok laughs at them, when Sehun tosses a snowball at Kyungsoo, only to be chased down the street with a handful of snow. “Kids, please-”

Luhan hits Minseok with a ball of snow, only to have the other turns to him, slowly. “Hey, merry Christmas.”

“Run.”

“And _they’re_ the adults.” Kai shakes his head.

“I don’t know,” Zitao starts, glaring at them in suspicion, “maybe that’s a lie. They don’t even look that old.”

“Luhan does kind of look like a five year old,” Jongdae says. The others give their agreement.

“I do not!”

“Shit, he heard us. Scatter!” Baekhyun yells, grabbing the two nearest to him and running. Junmyeon laughs at the group, from his place on the stairs.

“They _do_ realize they are nowhere near quiet, right?” The newly appointed group mom sighs. Kris shrugs while Yixing returns from inside the building, now with warm drinks.

“What did I miss?”

“They’re all children, including the adults. Especially the adults.”

“That’s why they need a group mom.”

“We’re not letting this go, are we?” Despite his words, Junmyeon looks at the group with a quickly formed fondness.

“I don’t want sleep,” Baekhyun whines, half awake.

“It’s six in the morning. We’ve been running around in the snow for hours. Shut up and go to sleep.” Chanyeol kicks him, from his place on the floor. Where they all are, for the most part.

There’s a moment of silence, that’s nice. Warm in a way that feels like a real home is supposed to.

And then Sehun shoots up from his place on the floor, yelling. “The tree! We- the- it’s-”

“Sehun, calm down!” Kai reaches for the other, trying to get him to breathe.

“The- we- we’re- shit.”

“That clears everything up.” Kai sighs, worry clear on his face. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Sehun put a hand to his chest. Baekhyun sits up to run a hand over the other’s back, trying to comfort him. “But it- but we’re in trouble.”

“Great, merry Christmas,” Jongdae mutters, sarcasm lacing his tone. Worry fills him, but he tries not to let it show through. The others, however, share concerned looks.

“We… let’s talk about this in the morning, okay?” Junmyeon says, softly. Sehun nods, closing his eyes.

“Okay. Yeah.” A pause. “Okay.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It doesn’t make it, being slammed into with a dumpster. It tumbles to the side along with the object. Baekhyun breathes a thanks for Luhan, as Kai appears next to him. In another moment, Baekhyun is back in Minseok and Luhan’s home, with Kai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to past me for doing a nonlinear thing with the second chapter (in this case, the second half of the story)  
it sucked by shout out anyway. i reordered everything to be linear but otherwise i didn't change most of the stories events.  
i did change dialogue, though, i lot of places bc wow what the fuck was past me doing.
> 
> oh and i removed a thing about chanyeol and suho's powers working together that went absolutely nowhere??? like it was built up and never happened so @ past me: what the fuck?

_January 1_ _ st _ _ 2011_

The noise of the others is giving Minseok a headache. He’s on the verge of committing a murder, he thinks, even though he’s getting used to it. The constant state of the group, since they all met, was one of chaos. More so since they found out they were in danger.

Still, that doesn’t change the current noise giving him a headache. Sehun, too, seems not to be coping with it well. Since Christmas, Sehun’s state had deteriorated until he spent most of his time either asleep or panicking. Even Yixing’s healing didn’t seem to do anything for Sehun’s sick state.

“Would everyone shut up for- like- three minutes!” Silence. Minseok takes a deep breath to calm himself, then sighs. Leans over the counter that sits between the living room and kitchen, and puts his head in his hands. After a moment of complete silence, the others return to whatever they were doing, quieter now. _Good enough_, Minseok figures.

“Minseok, are you okay?” Junmyeon asks, concern evident in his voice. Worry seems to be all Junmyeon has been capable of, since Christmas. Minseok shakes his head, and stands up straight.

“I’m fine.” Another sigh. “Just worried, you know?”

Junmyeon nods. Of course he does. “Yeah.”

“On the bright side- um-” Minseok fumbles for one- “two birthdays this month. That’s two cakes.”

“What if I don’t want one?” Kai’s appearance causes Junmyeon to jump, and Minseok breathes another sigh.

“Too bad.”

“I want one,” Kyungsoo offers from his spot in the living room.

“This is why you’re my favourite.”

“I though I was your favourite!” Luhan gasps, turning away from what he’s doing- looking after Sehun, at the moment- to face Minseok.

"No."

_February 18_ _ th _ _ 2011_

Luhan has many questions, some of which he’s not sure he wants to ask. Sehun had stumbled out of the house a few hours earlier, saying he’d be right back. Any offers to go with him were dismissed, leaving the group in confusion. After which, he returned, leading to Luhan’s new series of questions.

“Sehun… did you kidnap someones kid?”

“What? No!” Sehun looks genuinely offended, at the question, but Luhan isn’t sure what he was supposed to assume. Well- likely that this kid was somehow related to their _situation _based on the kids' appearance, but Luhan doesn’t want to consider that. (The trailing marks of green on the kid’s skin, the branches- resembling antlers- sitting on the kids head, and the unnatural glowing of their eyes were all signs Luhan was choosing to ignore.)

“I’m not a child.” The kid frowns, and Luhan finds himself rolling his eyes. Oh, of course they aren’t a kid. “Don’t roll your eyes, Luhan. I’m not a child.”

“What?” Luhan asks, unable to form more specific questions.

“Have you ever watched a movie where some cosmic being looks like a child?” Sehun asks, seemingly less out of it than he’d been for the past month and a half.

“Yes?”

“Meet the _Tree of Life_.”

“What… the hell?” Luhan’s tone is monotone, despite the great amount of surprise and confusion he feels.

“I was as surprised as you,” said Tree of Life offers. “You can blame our enemy for this.”

Luhan finds himself laughing, lightly. False, and missing any humor.

_February 20_ _ th _ _ 2011_

It would be easier, Sehun thinks, if they knew exactly what they were meant to be learning to fight. As is, they know very little about the “Red Forces.” Thus leaving their motivation… lacking. They want to survive the apparent looming threat, but even Sehun found it hard to really _feel_ this threat, despite his connection to the Tree of Life.

Which, he thinks, must be why he and Kris couldn’t seem to fight together.

The training area- room, building, whatever they decided to call it- was built with earth. Kyungsoo’s power used in the middle of nowhere, that they only reached using Kai’s power. A place they were unlikely to be found. It’s sporting a few new dents- cracks in the dirt walls forming precariously- more than half from Sehun accidentally throwing Kris into them. Though what didn’t cause dents in the walls caused bruises on Sehun’s skin, when he ended up tossing Kris into Sehun, himself.

They’ve been at this for weeks, trying to learn to fight together, with no luck. Sehun’s power over wind and Kris’s flying seemed to be incompatible, despite their expectations. Or, maybe, they themselves were the ones unable to work together. Kris couldn’t predict Sehun’s change in wind directions, and Sehun couldn’t predict where Kris would fly next.

“We aren’t getting anywhere with this,” Kris says, breathing a sigh. He rolls his shoulder after having crashed it into the wall. Sehun nods, feeling as frustrated as Kris’s voice sounds.

“Maybe,” Sehun starts, “if you followed followed my wind, instead of flying wherever, and ignoring it-”

“It changes! I can’t tell what they’re- what _you’re_\- going to do. I’m not a mind reader.” Kris turns to glare.

“Maybe.” They jump at Kai’s voice. “You should try watching Sehun. It’s pretty obvious what he’s thinking when you actually look at him.”

“When’d you get here?”

“About- hm- when you threw Kris into the ceiling?” Kai shrugs. “You should take a break, want me to take you back?”

They both give their agreement, after glancing at each other.

_March 12_ _ th _ _ 2011_

Baekhyun is afraid. The night is dark, suffocatingly so, as he runs away from _something_. It looks like an animal- he thinks it does- but something about it isn’t right. He can practically _feel_ that it’s not normal, as he runs.

Out of everyone, why did it have to be him? Why did he have to be sent to the store, in the night? Why _him_, whose fear of the dark had yet to fade from him?

Baekhyun ducks without thinking about why, only for the creature to jump over- at- him. He narrowly avoids serious head damage, and gets his first real look at the creature. Wolf-like in structure, but smoking in a clearly unnatural way. It growls at him as he fumbles to pull his phone from his pocket.

Struggles to dial one of other’s numbers as he turns, rushing to the side to avoid another attack. “Someone pick up the phone-”

“Hello?”

“Help!” The word rings out, as Baekhyun takes a step back- avoiding another attempted strike- and falls, hitting the ground harshly. “There- something- it looks like a wolf?! I can’t- I can’t fight I don’t know what to do!”

“Okay, hold on!” Baekhyun nods, despite knowing Minseok can’t see him. Stumbles back to his feet and turns to continue running. The creature follows, and he takes a step to the side just as it catches up to him. Hits a building’s front wall, and mutters a curse as pain fills his side.

“Baekhyun!” Kai’s voice both draws Baekhyun’s attention, as well as the creatures. Luhan and Chanyeol are at Kai’s sides, holding onto his arms. Then, the creature jumps at Baekhyun again, without warning. His momentary distraction slows his reaction.

It doesn’t make it, being slammed into with a dumpster. It tumbles to the side along with the object. Baekhyun breathes a thanks for Luhan, as Kai appears next to him. In another moment, Baekhyun is back in Minseok and Luhan’s home, with Kai. Questions hit him immediately, none of which he can answer, while Kai disappears again- likely to go retrieve Luhan and Chanyeol.

“Leave him be,” the voice is small- child like- but everyone stops. Turns to the child-like form of the Tree of Life. “I’ll explain.”

“Then explain,” Jongdae says, anger clear. They may have been warned that they were in danger, but the Tree hadn’t warned them about the specifics. And certainly not enough. They had been the one to asks Baekhyun to go out, in the first place.

“I’m going to, Jongdae.” They remain calm, despite Jongdae’s anger. Sigh, and lean back in their seat. “That thing was likely a creature of the Red Forces. Our enemy. They can take many forms, but that was one. They’re also the ones who caused this.” They motion to themself, and their child-like form.

“Another thing you never explained,” Minseok says, just as annoyed as Jongdae.

“They- I used a lot of my strength, to grant you powers. They used that to their advantage when I arrived in this world, taking my true form from me.”

“You couldn’t give me a cooler power?” Baekhyun tries to joke, but it misses humor.

“I didn’t choose your powers. I gave you them, yes, but their forms were dependent on who you were. What was most fitting to you.” At the explanation, the share looks. Some of surprise, some of realization, some of upset. Jongdae tries not to let his expression show what he’s feeling, but it’s all of those at once.

“Oh.”

“Jongin, for example-”

“We don’t need to go into that,” Kai says, not bothering to correct the Tree on his name.

“So, how was giving us powers useful?” Jongdae asks, voice calmer now that their questions are being answered, finally.

“As long as you’re alive, I can continue to exist in some form.”

“So they’ll try to kill us, great.” And with that, Jongdae’s anger returns. He rolls his eyes, looking away from the not-child.

“That would only allow me to regain my strength faster. There are downsides for them, either way. Only if you overuse your powers until it kills you, will that power disappear entirely.”

“You only decided to tell us that _now?”_ Kyungsoo asks, his annoyance matching the others.

“I’m sorry.”

Silence. As the group processes this information, there’s silence.

The _Red Forces_.That was what attacked Baekhyun. Is their enemy. Or, a form of them, as they can take others.

“So… that’s what we’re against?” Baekhyun asks, finally. He stares down at his hands- shaking- before closing his eyes and shaking his head. “That’s our enemy?”

“Right.” The Tree gives a small nod, closing their eyes. “The Red forces consist of those monsters of smoke, as well as more… human-like creatures. Some may be able to blend in with humanity, but most will stand out like that.”

“Great.” Zitao breathes a sigh, looking away.

“You sure know a lot.” Luhan frowns at the Tree. “Like how you knew our names, before we met.”

“I don’t know everything about our enemies, but…” They turn to Luhan. “I do know everything about you twelve. Though I could only manage the power to contact one of you, I could watch you all, from the moment my power found you.”

“That’s kind of creepy.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright,” Kai agrees, nodding. He grabs the nearest to him, who in turn grab the nearest to them. Junmyeon frowns at the remainder, before sighing.  
“Fine, okay. Stay safe.”  
Then the six are gone. The remainder share a look.  
“Now our turn.”

_April 15_ _ th _ _ 2011_

Luhan isn’t sure how they managed to get captured. They’d decided to only go out in groups, but it seemed that hadn’t helped them. Luhan had been knocked unconscious, and woken where he was. He doesn’t understand why they had yet to be killed, except that the Red Forces might know doing so wont aid them.

The metal walls of the room- if it can be called that- contain himself, Yixing, Minseok, and Junmyeon. Yixing stands, muttering about his concern for the others, while Junmyeon tries to find an exit to the door-less room. Minseok, on the other hand, sits against one of the walls, anger clear. Luhan wants to say something to him, but he doesn’t know what to say. There wasn’t much they could do.

At once, a part of the ceiling opens up, and three other members of their group are tossed into the room. Too quickly the panel closes back over them, but at least they know where the exit is, now.

Luhan turns to take in the sight of the others.

Bakehyun, the last dropped in, is the first to get up. His injuries are clear, favouring one leg. Yixing moves, immediately, to heal him. Kris- the first to have been thrown in- is unconscious. Junmyeon moves to try and wake him, while Yixing is preoccupied. Kyungsoo- the last of the three- stands quickly. Though he seems annoyed, he looks unhurt.

Kris shakes off Junmyeon’s worry, when he wakes. His unfocused gaze and shaky movements to stand make it clear something is wrong with him. “I’m okay,” He says, when Yixing turns his concern to Kris. Likely- Luhan guesses- Kris doesn’t want Yixing to exhaust himself.

“Do you know where we are?” Luhan asks, to the room. Kyungsoo nods.

“In an abandoned building. We’re a few storeys up. Which means I’m useless here.” Kyungsoo breaths a sigh.

“And the others?” Junmyeon asks, as he helps Kris to the side of the room.

“Zitao and Sehun are- well- _somewhere_ in the building. I don’t know about the others.”

_April 16_ _ th _ _ 2011_

Zitao is thankful for the form his power took. Just as thankful for years of training in multiple martial arts. Though he may have cheated at contests, he’d still taken training seriously. These things were all that let him escape the Red Forces, when captured. They didn’t kill him, and they didn’t do a good enough job of restraining him. Separating him only made it easier, honestly, because he didn’t have to worry about the others.

Now, having seemingly lost the Red Forces on his trail, he sets off in search of the others.

Sehun kicks the walls of his prison. A glass box, where he’s surrounded by Red Forces. He feels like a test subject, more than a captive. He doesn’t want to wait to find out if that’s accurate, but he’s not sure there’s much he can do, from where he is. Kicks the glass again and curses.

“Damn it.” Glaring, he looks around the room. It’s empty, aside from the human-like forms of the Red Forces. They wouldn’t pass for humans, outside of as shadows in the dark, which removes any doubts he has about his plan. It might not be _safe_, but he’s not going to remain a captive any longer.

Wind picks up in and outside his prison, despite the closed room. The glass warps under the strong currents, and Sehun has trouble breathing, but he pushes through. Until the Forces are being picked up by the current, as they rush around in a panic, and are thrown into the glass.

Finally, it shatters. Sehun brings his arms up to shield himself, but his powers do most of the work protecting him from it. The forces still standing display something like confusion, and Sehun uses that to run past them, out of the one door. Throws a gust of wind behind him, to keep them away, and slams the door as he makes it out of the room.

Wherever the others are, he’ll find them before he escapes.

Jongin feels genuine anger, when he realizes he can’t teleport into the building he _knows_ the others are. How the Red Forces manage this, he doesn’t know, but he stares at the building from a safe distance, considering his options. Once he’s inside, they’ll know he’s there. There’s only one way in, for him, after all. Through the front door. Once he’s inside, will he even be able to use his powers?

What will he do once he’s in? Jongin figures, with a sigh, he’ll figure it out. He has to take the chance, because he can’t just leave everyone else behind.

Zitao has, in the past few months, never been happier to see Kai. Kai who, as is usual now, appears out of nowhere. One moment Zitao is sneaking through the building’s hallways, the next Kai is there, and the next they’re in another room of the building. Sehun is there, too, when Zitao looks around the room. It seems unused.

“I found the others, too,” Kai says, drawing his attention back. “But I couldn’t get them out without you two.”

“Can’t you just teleport in and out?” Zitao’s question gets a shake of his head, from Kai.

“I can teleport around inside, and teleport out, even. But I couldn’t teleport in from outside. If there’s more than five of them in there, that’ll cause problems.”

Zitao nods, understanding. They’d discovered- what feels like months ago- that Kai could only teleport five of them, at once. Otherwise he can only cross very short distances, and passes out.

“I think there are,” Sehun says, breathing a sigh. “More than five, I mean.”

“Then- we need to get them out of there, first, and then figure out who to teleport out, and who can escape some other way.”

They’d been in here almost a full day. Minseok only waits as long as he does to give Yixing time to heal the others enough that they could run, without exhausting himself in the process. Now that everyone is back on their feet- though not necessarily _well_\- Minseok brings up his plan.

“Let’s break out.”

“How?” Junmyeon stresses the word, spinning to face Minseok. “We can probably get the door open, but none of us can reach it to escape, and Kris is in no condition to carry us.”

“We’ll make stairs.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Ice?” Luhan offers, to which Minseok nods, grinning at the other.

“Exactly.”

“Ready?” Kai asks, as he grabs Sehun and Zitao. The two nod, and they’re in another room at once. One with a clearly unique panel in the floor, just waiting to be opened. Kai moves, quickly, to open it, though it turns out to be heavier than he seems to expect. Zitao moves to help him, while Sehun kicks up wind around them, blocking the Red Forces that rush into the room as the sound of the panel being lifted. (The creaking of metal too obvious to ignore.)

“Hey, guys!” Kai calls down to the group. Zitao leans around him to get a look at the group, and their conditions.

“Kai, Zitao!” Yixing calls up to them.

“Well, that save me the trouble of breaking it.” Despite his words, Minseok almost sounds disappointed. Zitao decides not to think too much about that.

Things are going too well. Of course that means, it falls apart in a second. They were running back to that room- the empty, unused one- when they ran into a large group of Red Forces. All taking different forms, and in too narrow a hallway for Sehun to risk using his powers. In fact, the narrow hallway meant trouble for most of the group.

But they had no choice but to fight their way through.

Even with his powers, Kai seems to be having trouble. Only able to avoid being hit, and occasionally help one of the others avoid the same. He doesn’t seem to have enough time to think- not enough time to realize he could teleport them one by one- unlike Zitao.

Yixing hits a wall harshly, the breath knocked out of him. Zitao is too far- even with slowed time- to reach him in time, but Baekhyun pulls Yixing out of the way as on enemy’s claws come down at him. Baekhyun, himself, stumbles as he releases Yixing, dropping to the ground with a thud.

Minseok stands between the enemy, and Junmyeon and Kris. Junmyeon helps a dizzy Kris stand, while Minseok, panicked, throws freezes any enemy that get's too close, to the ground. Barely reacts when Junmyeon shouts, and gets thrown across the hall, hitting the other wall with his shoulder.

Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Luhan are unable to do anything other than avoid, due to their powers. Sehun without the space, Kyungsoo too far above ground, and Luhan without any objects to throw.

Zitao realizes, quickly, that he’s the only one able to do much. If only because of slowed time and training, Zitao is keeping himself safe, and even managing to take a few enemies down. But…

He isn’t sure how long he can keep this up. A headache is forming, from using his power so long, and he can’t keep up with every one of the others. Doesn’t have the ability to protect them. Turns, to look at the others, only to realize too quickly that more than one of them is about to be unavoidably hurt. Even he doesn’t have enough time. Reaches forward pointlessly, with a shout, desperate-

And all at once, everything stops.

Zitao startles at the sudden stillness of his surroundings. This has never happened, before. Time has slowed to a crawl, but it still _moved_. Now, however, nothing moves. His head pounds harshly, his entire body aches, but he doesn’t care. Ignores it in favour of moving the others. One by one- as quickly as he can- Zitao moves them to the empty end of the hall, past the Red Forces.

Everything starts at once, and everyone’s confusion is evident even through Zitao’s blurring vision. Quickly, they realize they don’t have time to figure out what happened, and the group is back to running. Zitao finds Sehun grabbing him, pulling him along, as he struggles to remain awake.

“Who’s going to go?”

“I can only take five of you,” Kai reminds them, expression betraying how much this fact bothers him.

“The rest of us will try to escape on their own.” Luhan’s voice gains their attention only for a moment, before Junmyeon speaks.

“Zitao, Kris, and Baekhyun have to go, for sure.” Junmyeon motions to the three, all in various states of unwell, due to the past two days events. Despite Yixing’s healing, none of them are in top condition, and they’re still the worse off, of any of them.

“Yixing too,” Sehun adds. “They need his help.”

“One more, then.” Luhan turns to those who remain. Minseok, Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Junmyeon. “One of you.”

“I’ll stay,” Sehun offers, immediately.

“Once we get outside, I’ll be more help for you,” Kyungsoo says, seriously. “So I’ll stay too.”

“Junmyeon, then.” Minseok pushes Junmyeon forward, towards Kai.

“Wait- what?”

“Alright,” Kai agrees, nodding. He grabs the nearest to him, who in turn grab the nearest to them. Junmyeon frowns at the remainder, before sighing.

“Fine, okay. Stay safe.”

Then the six are gone. The remainder share a look.

“Now our turn.”

Minseok realizes, at once, that he’s never properly looked at their enemies. Their smoke-like form not betraying the solid force of them. Their weight. Yet, in the middle of a fight, he looks for the first time, before he jumps out of the way of one.

He takes a few steps back, and glances at the other three of their group. Kyungsoo seems fine, if annoyed at his inability to fight back. He could still avoid just fine, especially in the larger space of the room they’ve found themselves chased into. Luhan is in a similar state, with nothing to fight back with.

Sehun, on the other hand, is able to protect himself, more than avoid. Though his ability to fight back is limited, as he can’t risk hurting the others. Nobody in the room had spent much time training with Sehun, something they realize now was a mistake.

Minseok is left the only one able to most protect himself, and fight back. Even if he wasn’t the best at that.

It happens in a moment. A blink of an eye. Luhan is halfway to falling back, jumped at, when the room freezes. Ice covers the room, pillars of it forming and piercing not only the Red Force attacking Luhan, but all of those in the room. Their enemies collapse, turned to actual smoke and dissipating as the ice turns to water, and Minseok collapses onto the ground.

“What happened?!” Luhan ignores Sehun’s surprise, rushing to Minseok’s side.

“He saved us?”

“I figured _that much_ out.”

“He passed out,” Kyungsoo says, simply.

“He must have overused his powers,” Luhan adds, breathing a relieved sigh when he finds Minseok still has a steady pulse.

“Someone has to carry him,” Sehun says. Kyungsoo startles when two sets of eyes turn to him.

“What?”

“You’re the strongest of us.” Sehun shrugs. “And we’re better at defending while moving.”

Luhan nods in agreement. Finally, Kyungsoo sighs and moves forward. “Okay, but you two better protect us.”

“Son of a-” Sehun ducks out of the way of a flying object, barely avoiding a concussion. And here he was, thinking it would be easier once they got out of the building. Yet here he is, running down the abandoned roads of a abandoned neighborhood, and nearly getting his head taken off by his teammates.

“Guys!” Kyungsoo spins back to look at Sehun and Luhan. “Don’t fall behind!”

“This is stupid.” Sehun sighs, sliding to a stop.

“Sehun?” Luhan stumbles to a stop, turning to face him. The Red Forces gaining on them show no concern for their conversation, so Sehun speaks quickly, as he turns to face them.

“I’m going to do that stupid thing people do and say, “go on without me."” Sehun takes a step back towards the enemy. “So go on without me. I’ll keep them away.”

“What?!”

“So, go!” Sehun rushes forward, wind kicking up around him. He knows this is a bad idea, but they can’t afford to be followed, either. And they certainly can’t afford to be caught again. 

One wrong move is all it takes.

Sehun jumps back, avoiding a fatal blow, but gaining a large gash across his chest. He grasps at it, though he barely registers the pain. His breathing turns harsh, and he turns to see the others no longer visible. With them gone, ahead, he stumbles into and alley. Curses when his attempts to use wind to keep the Red Forces from following him are weaker than he expects.

“Junmyeon is going to kill me if I survive,” he mutters to himself.

As they turn a corner, Luhan feels like they haven’t made any progress. Despite Sehun staying behind, more of the enemy found them. Kyungsoo runs down an alley, slowed due to carrying Minseok. Luhan falls behind them, in attempt to protect the two. One of the creatures- looking like a giant cat- jumps at them and Luhan acts without thinking.

Turns and moves his arms to throw something- anything- at it. A broken down car hits it in the side, sending it down the street and rolling to a stop in front of the alley. Blocking Luhan from it as the car begins to smoke. The creature- Luhan looks back at it- dissipates, as Kyungsoo yells to Luhan.

Luhan turns back to the car- then to look behind him at the approaching forces, then back to the car. He usually can’t lift something that heavy, and he isn’t sure he can do so again, now that he’s thinking about it. This wouldn’t have been a problem, if it hadn’t landed in the one way that he couldn’t climb over it. He turns around fully, closes his eyes, and realizes too quickly what he has to do.

“Go!” Luhan yells, trying to sound more sure than he feels.

“What?!”

“Go! I’ll catch up!” Luhan knows Kyungsoo wants to argue, based on the silence that follows. Then, with clear hesitance, Kyungsoo agrees.

“Okay, be careful.”

“Of course!” Footsteps leave, and Luhan opens his eyes to face the quickly growing closer enemies. “I’m so screwed.”

Luhan stumbles back, clutching his bleeding arm. He’d done a better job holding them off than he expected, but exhaustion is beginning to get to him. Either he exhausts his powers, or he lets them kill him, and the pain shooting through him wont allow him to focus enough to do the former.

At the very least, his adrenaline gave him strength he wasn’t aware he had, with his powers included. He manages to throw the car from before at some of the enemies, though it only moves a short distance- nothing comparable to the first time- before tumbling on it’s own.

He’s going to die here, Luhan thinks. Leans against a wall, as the car rolls to a stop.

And then Kai shows up. Just a step away from where the car stop moving, Kai jumps back. Then he searches the area for Luhan. When they lock eyes, Kai appears next to Luhan and relief fills Luhan all at once. How Kai found Luhan, he doesn’t care.

The next second he’s back in his home, dropping to the floor in relief. Minseok is passed out, a few feet away, with Zitao. Kyungsoo appears to be fine. Luhan fills with relief, immediately. Barely notices when Yixing tells him to put pressure to his own wound, but does as he’s told. He’ll apologize later, for worrying the other, he thinks.

“Where’s Sehun?” Kai asks, reminding Luhan of the other. All at once, his relief disappears. He answers, quickly, and Kai disappears only to return with a more injured Sehun. Luhan flinches at the sight of the other’s wounds. Sehun passes out the second he hits the chair Kai moves him to.

Kyungsoo paces around the living room in a mix of panic and guilt. Kai, equally concerned, moves to stand to the side. Neither of them can do anything to help, having to leave everything to Yixing.

“You can help me move Zitao,” Yixing says, giving them something to do. Immediately, the two move, carrying Zitao’s unconscious form into one of the bedrooms. Left in the living room, Yixing looks around himself.

Though passed out, Minseok’s currents state is the least concerning. His exhaustion isn’t enough to kill him. Luhan and Sehun, on the other hand… Yixing blanches at their bleeding, and moves to heal Sehun. Luhan is the only of them conscious, able to put pressure on his own wounds, so he’ll have to wait for the moment.

Sehun’s bleeding is worse, anyway. Large gashes over his torso- as if from an animal- that Yixing tries not to look too hard at, lest he feel sick.

“You’re all so stupid,” Yixing mutters, concern clear in his voice. Worry that doesn’t seem to be easing, even as Sehun’s wounds begin to close.

“Sorry,” Luhan mumbles his response, holding onto his wounded arm.

“Can’t any of you stay okay for- like- a day?” Yixing shakes his head, trying to clear exhaustion. “Please try harder not to get yourselves killed.”

“I’m sorry,” Luhan repeats.

“Please.”

_April 17_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“What’s _wrong_ with the four of you?” Junmyeon breathes a heavy sigh, looking over the group seated on the couch. From the kitchen, Kyungsoo eyes the group with a look of sympathy. Sehun and Luhan avoid Junmyeon’s gaze, looking at each other, then the ground. Minseok fakes confusion, as if he doesn’t know why Junmyeon is upset, unwilling to admit he did anything wrong. Zitao looks to the others, as if expecting one of them to have a response.

“I don’t see why I’m in trouble,” Minseok says, finally.

“We had this discussion! We shouldn’t overuse our powers. We could- you know- _die if we do_.” Junmyeon glares at the other, though his anger barely covers his concern.

“It’s not as if I meant to.” Minseok frowns, looking away. He sounds childishly defensive, and he knows that, but he continues, anyway. “I didn’t _think about it_, I just didn’t want the others to get hurt. You’re telling me you wouldn’t have done the same?”

Junmyeon breathes a sigh, but looks away. Resigned to the knowledge Minseok is right. “Fine.”

“Wait- wait.” Zitao frowns. “If that’s his excuse, then I shouldn’t be in trouble either.”

“Alright, fine. You two are fine.” Junmyeon has barely finished the sentence, before Zitao is rushing away, into the kitchen. Minseok stands, pats Luhan on the shoulder, and follows.

“I think mom is biased,” Luahn mutters, to Sehun. They share guilty looks, despite the joke.

“And what’s _your_ excuse?” Junmyeon turns back to them. Luhan’s response is immediate.

“I didn’t have a choice! I was going to die, I at least wanted to do some damage first.” His voice shakes, and Junmyeon flinches at it. Nods solemnly.

“Alright…” Luhan takes that as his chance to leave, and sends an apologetic look at Sehun on his way. “Should I even ask if you have a response?”

“I don’t.” Sehun looks away. “I just…”

Junmyeon doesn’t ask for further explanation. Sehun’s expression says it all. “Okay.”

“I didn’t want the only people who believe me to get hurt,” Sehun says, despite Junmyeon giving him the chance not to. His tone is honest, his expression a frown, and Junmyeon thinks he looks far too _tried_ for has age. Maybe they all are. Junmyeons expression softens, but Sehun just looks away. “Don’t look at me like that. I get it, okay?”

“Okay.” Junmyeon sits besides him, and wraps an arm around Sehun. A scoff from the other barely hides his shaky breaths as he leans into the Junmyeon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My dear, favourite humans. Resting here, in this form, I’ve regained some of my strength.”  
“Some, meaning?” Zitao stresses the word, and they wave their hand at him.  
“Enough of it. I may be able to regain my true from, if I’m able to get to it.”

_April 24_ _ th _ _ 2011_

Baekhyun glares ahead of him, trying desperately to focus on changing the light hitting the wall. It twists, going brighter for a moment, then returns to it’s natural form. Baekhyun breathes out heavily, running a hand through his hair. What was he even supposed to _do_ with his powers, against the Red Forces? Baekhyun stares down at his hands, allowing them to light up briefly, before sighing, letting the light fade.

“What were you trying to do?” Baekhyun jumps at the voice, spinning to face Chanyeol.

“Well hi, thanks for the heart attack.” Chanyeol laughs at him, and Baekhyun sighs again. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know what I can even do with light, to make it useful, you know? Blinding things is… I mean it _works_, but I can only do it to one enemy at a time, without risking doing the same to you guys.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol hums, tilting his head in thought. Baekhyun is going to point out how very much Chanyeol looks like a puppy- anything to break the serious tension of their conversation- but Chanyeol speaks before he can. “You know you could make yourself invisible.”

“What?”

“You know, because sight is all- like- us seeing light bouncing off stuff? I think that was it was-” Chanyeol frowns, cutting himself off. “I paid at least that much attention in science.”

“So… I can manipulate light… to make things invisible.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

"Chanyeol you're a genius."

_May 7_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“I want to go back,” Minseok says, visibly unhappy. “I’ve lived there for _years_.”

“A little over a year,” Luhan corrects, quietly.

“Either way!”

“We have to hide from the Red Forces,” Kris says, a reminder that Minseok frowns at. He puts a hand on Minseok’s shoulder, and Minseok’s glare only turns to him.

“I’ll kill them all, then. That place was such a good deal.”

“Anyway!” Luhan interrupts, with a laugh. “Kris, aren’t you and Sehun supposed to be training?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kris nods, takes another sympathetic glance at Minseok, and goes to find Kai and Sehun.

Minseok breathes a sigh, finally, and looks around their current hiding place with obvious distaste.

“Is he okay?” Kyungsoo asks, watching Minseok start rearranging things.

“He’ll be okay. You should have seen him when we first moved there originally. He was all, “that’s it, I’m going to go get our old place back right now,” even though our old place was in another country.” Luhan gives a shrug, and moves to help Minseok rearrange.

Kris drops to the ground, slowly, before turning to Sehun. They share a look of surprised relief, before Sehun grins.

“You did it!” It being following Sehun’s wind, and not getting thrown into any walls, or otherwise injured.

“Yeah.”

“We can work together!”

“Yeah!”

_May 13_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“Everyone, please, I need to say something.” The Tree of Life motions everyone to gather around them. Once the group has formed, it speaks again. “My dear, favourite humans. Resting here, in this form, I’ve regained some of my strength.”

“Some, meaning?” Zitao stresses the word, and they wave their hand at him.

“_Enough_ of it. I may be able to regain my true from, if I’m able to get to it.”

“We’re going to have to help with that, aren’t we?” Kris asks, frowning.

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

_June 2_ _ nd _ _ 2011_

Minseok stumbles alongside the Tree’s child-like form. The Tree’s form means its running is slower than desired, but it wasn’t as if there was much they could do about that particular thing. Jongdae and Baekhyun trail behind them, ready to defend the two. Chanyeol and Zitao follow, further still.

The building- a different one than where they were taken when they were captured- looks to be an old, abandoned hotel. Covered in overgrown plants, yet still having a pool filled with water, and functioning lights. The Tree told them it was where they last were, when they lost their real from, and thus where they have to find it to get it back.

Unfortunately, it’s likely the Red Forces expect this.

And, despite knowing that, they’re still caught off guard when one jumps through one of the higher windows. Minseok flinches, sliding to a stop as glass breaks, while the Tree stumbles, shrieking. The creature- wolf like, smoking- jumps at them, and Minseok can’t react quick enough to keep the two from falling into the pool. The creature seems dead-set on killing the Tree’s current form, thrashing at it in the water, as the Tree struggles to get away from it.

Where the confidence comes from, Minseok isn’t sure, but he dives in after them. Grabs at the creature in an attempt to pull it away from the Tree, even as water surrounds him, slowing his movements. The Tree manages to put some distance between them, and Minseok does the only thing he can think of to protect himself and the Tree.

He freezes the pool around them.

Chanyeol stares at the frozen pool- stares at Minseok, the Tree, and the enemies frozen forms in it- and wonders if Minseok intended to freeze as much as he did. Shakes that thought away, after a second, and jumps onto the ice, hands alight with fire as he attempts to unfreeze the Tree and Minseok, without unfreezing the enemy.

The sun had only started to rise when they arrived, but he has enough light between that and his fire, to see what he’s doing. Baekhyun remains closes to the pool, while Zitao and Jongdae make an active effort to defend Chanyeol.

There’s only so much heat Chanyeol can produce without risking himself, so the melting of ice is slower than he would like- cold sinking into his own skin- and he focuses on unfreezing Minseok’s head. If Minseok is unfrozen, he can undo the rest.

“Baekhyun!”

“Yeah?”

“Can you get Junmyeon here?” As he melts the ice, it’s replaced by water, which is liable to drown Minseok if not dealt with.

“Okay!”

Despite when they arrived, the sun is high above them, by the time they reach Minseok’s head, deep under water. Junmyeon moves the water away, as Chanyeol melts it, both exhausted. No more exhausted than the others, though. A quick glance tells them that Jongdae and Zitao have been replaced by Sehun and Kyungsoo. (Or, rather, Sehun and Kyungsoo have been the third rotation of their group members protecting them.) The others likely with Yixing- taken away by Kai, for the moment- to recover from exhaustion quicker, and return to protect them.

Finally, Minseok’s face- the part closest to the surface- is unfrozen, and he blinks once, twice, before realizing his situation.

Minseok has never felt so cold in his life, shivering as he and the Tree of Life are pulled from the water. Junmyeon makes quick work of the enemy in the water, while Chanyeol lights a fire that Minseok and the Tree huddle closer to him.

“Should we get Kai to-”

“No.” The Tree shakes their head, standing up shakily. “Minseok can go, but someone- I’m getting my form back now.”

“You can’t run, like that.”

“Someone must carry me, then.”

Kris carries the Tree’s child-like form up the stairs of the building. Running instead of flying, only so their protection can keep up. Junmyeon and Chanyeol are in no form to fight, but Sehun remains at their side, and Kyungsoo stays on the ground floor, making good use of the others not being in his way to display the dangers of his power. Shakes the building, but not enough that it will collapse, as he attacks the Red Forces.

With surprising ease, they find it. A small sprout of a tree haphazardly abandoned on the ground.

“This is… your real form?”

“It will be.” The Tree pushes off of Kris’s back, dropping to the ground harshly. Kris flinches at the sound, but the Tree seems unconcerned. They approach the tree sprout, reach out, and all at once three things happen.

The child form of the Tree collapses, eyes rolling back. Kris looks away- thinking they look far too much like someone dead. The tree sprout begins to glow.

And suddenly the sprout grows, larger and larger until Kris and Sehun are forced to escape the room via window. They meet Kyungsoo outside, just as the Tree’s form overtakes the building. Roots stretch out, some hitting Red Force creatures, as the Red Forces move, escaping the area.

“Well,” Kyungsoo says, seeming unable to think of what else to say.

“I can’t believe the Tree of Life was the great deku tree this whole time.” Kris’s joke receives a halfhearted smack in the arm from Sehun.

“They can still hear you!”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai glances around at the others, who share concerned looks with him.  
“Is there no other way?” Junmyeon asks, but they all know the answer.  
“No, I’m sorry.”

_June 4_ _ th _ _ 2011_

_“Now that I have regained my form, and some of my strength, I may be able to seal away the Red Forces from your world.”_

“Well that’s good,” Yixing says, after a moments pause. It was an adjustment for most of them, to hear the Tree’s voice in their heads. Deeper than the voice was, when in the child form it’d had before. Yixing, like everyone else, though, seems to expect there’s more to the Tree's statement than that.

_“To do so, I need to deal with their leader. Which requires I get close to it.”_

“Well that seems like a problem,” Kai says, sighing. “You know, since you’re a _tree_ and I can’t move you.”

_“Which is exactly why I need your help. All of you, but you especially, Jongin. Your task- though- may be the most dangerous.”_

“Oh, wonderful.” Sarcasm barely masks fear.

_“I’m sorry, but I need you to bring their leader to me.”_

“Great, so I have to get close to it is what you’re saying.” Kai breathes a sigh, twisting his hands and looking away from the Tree’s form. With the Red Forces unwilling to approach the Tree, since it regained its strength, they’ve built a small, livable, area around it. Kai glances around at the others, who share concerned looks with him.

“Is there no other way?” Junmyeon asks, but they all know the answer.

_“No, I’m sorry.”_

_June 8_ _ th _ _ 2011_

While the Red Forces were temporarily deterred by the Tree regaining its form, that doesn’t last long. While it’s easier to protect their current location- the Tree being able to warn them of any oncoming danger- it wasn’t _them_ that the Red Forces had focused their attention on. Nor was it the Tree of Life itself.

No, they were planning something. Something, the Tree feared, was a hasty, sped up, version of the Red Forces original plan. Destroying all life on their current plane of existence. Something they've had time to prepare for, while the Tree had lost it's form. Which only means they- those chosen by the Tree of Life- have to speed up their efforts, too.

To find the Red Forces leader, and get Kai close enough to bring it to the Tree.

“You have any idea _where_ it is?” Kyungsoo asks, as the group once again gathers around the Tree. They startle, when it begins speaking directly into their heads again, still not used to it. (Except Sehun, who stifles a laugh at their reaction, too used to it to be affected.)

_“Based on what I know of the Red Forces, and their attacks on this place, I have an idea._”

“And that is?”

_“The building they took you, when you were captured.”_

“Which means Kai can’t just teleport in,” Luhan points out, breathing a sigh. The other looks to the ground, processing this.

“Kai?” Sehun asks, quietly.

“I’m fine.” He turns to the Tree. “We should come up with a plan.”

_“Of course._”

“Alright, well, where do we start?” Kris asks, only for Kai to shake his head.

“I mean a general plan, for what I’m going to do. We can’t plan everyone’s roles until we know what I need to do.”

“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo watches Kai’s face, for some sign of doubt. But Kai nods, looking at once fearful and determined.

“I’m sure.”

_June 10_ _ th _ _ 2011_

_“With Jongin’s help, I’ve created a plan,”_ The Tree says, simply. _“If you’ll gather, he can explain._”

So once again the group gathers together, this time around Kai, instead of the tree. After a moment of nervous silence, Kai sighs, and being to explain. “The plan is to split up into four groups of three, in order to get to the heart of the enemy.”

“Oh, can I be in a group with-”

“No.” Kai cuts off Luhan, who frowns. “The groups are already decided.”

“Oh, are they?” Minseok asks, frown mirroring Luhan’s.

“What are they, then?” Yixing’s voice stops any tension from forming over the group.

“Group one: Luhan, Minseok, and Junmyeon.”

“So close,” Luhan mutters.

“Should I be insulted?” Junmyeon turns to him.

“What? No, of course not.” Luhan shakes his head. Minseok rolls his eyes at him.

“Anyway,” Kai starts, “Group two is myself, Yixing, and Zitao. For the first part of this plan, we’ll have to stay out of the fight, but we also have the most dangerous job, later.”

“Okay,” Yixing says, simply. Zitao gives a small nod, though he appears worried.

“Group three is Kris, Sehun, and Baekhyun. And group four is obviously Kyungsoo, Jongdae, and Chanyeol. The Tree- we- thought these groups would work best, to make sure I could get to the Red Forces leader.”

_June 15_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“We need some sort of plan,” Minseok starts, looking to the other two. “For how to work together, properly, I mean. I know we have our plan for the- well- plan, but we’ll be fighting together, so we should think this through.”

“I have an idea.” Luhan grins, turning to Junmyeon. “You can make water in shapes, and Minseok can freeze them to make weapons.”

“Weapons none of us know how to use?” Minseok raises an eyebrow at the other.

“Actually,” Junmyeon says, gaining their attention. “Luhan might have the right idea. If they’re frozen, solid objects, then Luhan can throw them, right?”

“And skewer the enemy!”

“Oh, you’re right.” Minseok nods at the two. “Let’s practice that then?”

“Yeah.”

_June 18_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“Okay, so I have this idea, but I want a second opinion before I show my team.” Chanyeol’s words get a nod from Zitao.

“But you chose me?”

“Yeah. Can you make sure I don’t die if this goes terribly wrong?”

Zitao looks around the training area, then back to Chanyeol, wondering what he could be planning with that much risk. After a moment, he sighs, and nods. “Okay.”

“Great!” Chanyeol steps forward, away from Zitao, and holds out his hands. Fire forms, twisting until it’s taken shape, and spreads out. It’s bird-like, in form, and spreads out over the area, falling to the ground, when Chanyeol pulls his hands back. “Cool, right?”

“It’s pretty.” Zitao nods. “What’s the point, though?”

“Once I get a handle on it, I think I can get it to actually fly a distance. Like an actual attack, instead of just flinging fire randomly.”

Zitao nods, glancing at the fire-covered ground. “That might work.”

“Great! Please don’t tell my team, yet.”

“No promises.”

“Hey!”

“Kidding. I’ll let you reveal your cool bird fire to your group.”

_June 24_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“So, you can heal yourself?” Kris asks, as Yixing’s hand heals before their very eyes. He’d only just hurt it- a small thing, hitting it against something and getting a scratch- but the wound is gone in seconds.

“Well, no? It kind of just happens on it’s own.” Yixing frowns down at his hand. “But- well- I guess it’s always kind of like that.”

“You could probably run straight into battle like a tank,” Zitao jokes, only for Yixing to look up at him, seriously.

“Oh, you have a point.”

“I wouldn’t do that. It still hurts, right?” Kris asks, and Yixing nods. “Probably not worth it.”

“Right…”

Yixing continues to muse over the idea, despite this.


	10. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sehun may not be able to see them, but he and Kris had gotten pretty good at working together. Or, rather, Kris has gotten pretty good at reading what Sehun is going to do. A human projectile- invisible to their enemy- thrown by wind that the Red Forces don’t know Sehun well enough to predict.
> 
> A good distraction, if nothing else.

_July 17_ _ th _ _ 2011_

Group _three_ has a very simple job; make sure group _one_ can get inside the building. Sehun leads the group, running ahead of the others and trying to clear the way as best he can with his wind. Kris follows, slightly behind and in the air, until he can use wind currents Sehun’s made to speed himself up and hit Red Force creatures with more power. Baekhyun, on the other hand, uses his powers to hide group 1 from sight, as they run alongside him. While he isn’t confident in his new ability- despite weeks of practicing it- he manages to make them- at least- not draw Red Forces attention, as they run. His exhaustion is a small price for making sure they all pull this off.

Once they reach the entrance, Baekhyun jumps back- lets group one go on ahead, inside- and turns away from the doors. With his powers let up, the enemies outside seem to realize what’s happened, but focus more on group three, than those who’ve made it inside. Baekhyun breathes a sigh, then grins when their enemies turn to him.

A creature jumps at him, only to run right into the building’s side, and Baekhyun feels all at once exhausted and confident. He runs back to Sehun’s side- let through the wind by Sehun- and Kris joins them a moment later.

“Ready?” Kris asks, and Baekhyun nods, jumping onto the other’s back without warning. Kris makes a startled noise, while Sehun laughs, and then the two are in the air, leaving Sehun behind. Which was fine. Sehun may not actively be able to attack, the way he is, but surrounded by wind, he’s safe. The other two disappear from his sight. Only occasionally can he see flickers of light, as Baekhyun hasn’t perfected his new trick.

But that works just fine. Sehun may not be able to see them, but he and Kris had gotten pretty good at working together. Or, rather, Kris has gotten pretty good at reading what Sehun is going to do. A human projectile- invisible to their enemy- thrown by wind that the Red Forces don’t know Sehun well enough to predict.

A good distraction, if nothing else.

Group four- the _actual_ distraction team- make quick work of their own first task. Break an underground water pipe- push it up into the building- to flood the lowest level. Give Junmyeon something to work with. Finding their way underground is easy enough with Chanyeol for light, and Kyungsoo for making them a path. When they finally find the pipe, Chanyeol heats it, to weaken it, and then Kyungsoo pushes earth up from beneath it, suddenly and all at once, causing it to break up and into the building just above it.

Task one, done. Task two: do the same for a pipe that leads outside, so that Jongdae will have something to conduct electricity, once they’re back above ground. Jongdae, himself, looks at old city plans they found- a bit too easily- online, and points them in the direction of their next goal.

“This way.”

“Got it!”

Once water break out over the ground, group three knows what’s coming. Quickly, the water is followed by group four. Sehun turns to wave at them, as Kris and Baekhyun knock a large enemy at the building. Chanyeol waves back, while Jongdae’s electricity bursts to life, following the water straight to their enemies. Due to Sehun’s wind, the water doesn’t reach him- and gives enough space that the electricity doesn’t either.

Chanyeol spins in the opposite direction of Jongdae, a large mass of fire taking shape, and thrown at another group of enemies. Kyungsoo raises a wall between them, preventing electricity from reaching Chanyeol, and fire from reaching Jongdae.

Combined, groups three and four work to draw most of their enemies attention.

Junmyeon fills with relief, when water hits his legs, proving group four was successful. The masses of Red Forces that surround them seem to display some sort of confusion, which gives Junmyeon plenty of time to shape spears out of the water. Minseok turns away from where he was using the water in the air to freeze enemies in place, and starts freezing Junmyeon’s water-formed weapons.

Luhan throws them at the enemies blocking their way forward, with his own power, and the group is moving forward through the building again. Junmyeon uses his power to push water out of their path- and knock enemies away, while he’s at it- as he leads the group forward. Occasionally forming sharp masses of water, behind him, and letting them go without looking to see what the other two do with them. He can hear masses of ice hitting things, behind him, and assumes that means their plan for using their powers together was continuing to work.

Finally, group one slides to a stop at the center of the building. The center room is their goal. Or, rather, what’s beneath it. A small room lies beneath it, the location of their main goal. Though Junmyeon had reprimanded the others for recklessness, group one had- on their own- decided on something reckless.

Junmyeon uses his powers- _overuses_ them- to move large amounts of water. Curls it under the ground, around the floor at the center of the room, and pulls it back, ripping up the floor. That section of the floor goes flying, crashing into one of the walls. At once, he finds himself on the ground, breath heavy, from the effort, but it’s done. Black smoke pours out of the hole, and a massive- well- mass of smoke slinks out. Takes form much like the other Red Forces, but much bigger.

“Well, wasn’t that easy?” Minseok jokes. Junmyeon is pulled to his feet by Luhan, and the three share a look. Now they just had to keep things clear for the remaining group.

_“They have cleared your way. It’s time you go.”_

“Let’s go, then,” Kai says, turning to Zitao and Yixing. The two nod, and grab onto him. “We’ll be back.”

They appear outside of the building, in the middle of the battle, but quickly are surrounded by walls of earth, broken through the concrete. A path leading straight to the building, blocking them from their enemies. Without time to pause, they take off in a run.

Inside, they find a path of ice walls. Lower, but clear of enemies already. They follow it to the center room, where lies what remains of the enemies inside. The biggest of them- their goal- stands to the far side of the room. Smaller masses stand between them and it, and group one stands, pressed against the far left wall. Standing to defend themselves, more than fight back.

Yixing and Zitao move at once, knowing what they have to do. Zitao moves forward first, grabbing a piece of debris from the hole in the floor, and using it to attack an enemy. Moves too quickly for the others to keep up, and is followed by Yixing. The two get close enough to the Red Forces' leader to get it to retaliate, swinging what must be an arm at them.

Yixing steps between Zitao and it, taking the brunt of what would have been an incapacitating hit. His power acts just quickly enough to keep him on his feet. Its attention on them, it doesn’t have time to react as Kai appears next to it.

In the next second both it and Kai are gone. The remaining five return their gazes to the enemy, knowing they still have to fight, until this is over.

“Yixing, stand back, okay?”

“Right.”

Luhan moves forward, first, lifting a piece of the already-ripped-out floor and swinging it at some of their enemies with his power. Minseok moves Junmyeon to Yixing’s side, before joining the fray, freezing enemies only for them to be dealt with by Zitao.

Kai and the creature land in front of the giant form of the Tree of Life. Kai stumbles, as the creature swings at him, and hits the ground with a harsh cracking noise. Groans, and holds his now-injured shoulder, feeling sick to his stomach at the sound. The creature swings at him again before he can move, and even when he’s teleported away, he can feel the gashes on his chest from his too-slow reaction. Pushes his hand against the bleeding wound, and drops to the ground with a groan.

“Maybe I should have brought Yixing back with me,” he mutters, finding himself laughing. His vision blurs as light surrounds him, sourced from the Tree.

_October 14_ _ th _ _ 2011_

“Yes, mom.” Jongin rolls his eyes, looking away from her. “I promise I’ll come home.”

He flinches when she pulls him into a hug, telling him to be back on time. Jongin nods, and returns the hug, knowing she has every reason to worry he wont. He _had_ run away, after all. And she didn’t even know what he’d been doing during that time. Hasn’t seen the scars left on his chest from Yixing healing him too late after the injury happened.

He’s lucky she lets him go anywhere, at all, honestly. Not that she could actually stop him, but it’s better that she lets him leave. Jongin makes his way down to the end of their neighborhood, before ducking around a building, and teleporting away.

“If you burn my kitchen down I can and will stuff you in my freezer.” Minseok’s threat is the first thing Jongin hears upon arrival. He stifles laughter, as Chanyeol holds his hands up. “I swear.”

“Oh, Kai, you’re here.” Chanyeol’s words get Minseok’s attention off of him, and Jongin shakes his head.

“I’m back to Jongin, now. But, yeah, I'm here.” No need for an alias when he wasn’t being looked for, anymore. Kyungsoo looks over the couch, towards the kitchen where Jongin is.

“You would never have needed one, if you just-”

“_Please_ we don’t have to do this again.”

“Fine, fine.”

“God damn it!” Minseok’s yelling gets their attention. Chanyeol slams a lid over the fire on the pan as if that will make it less obvious.

“Baekhyun did it.”

“I’m not even in the kitchen!”

“Aw, you know, I missed you guys,” Jongin says, laughing.

“Well would you look at all this food that Chanyeol _definitely_ didn’t almost burn down the kitchen helping to make.” Jongdae places the last of the dishes onto the dinning room table. Chanyeol shushes him.

“Minseok is still mad, don’t remind him.”

“Minseok is also _right here_,” Minseok says, rolling his eyes. “It’s fine, I should have known better.”

“Anyway, let’s eat, yeah?” Luhan reaches for the food, first, and all at once everyone moves. Luhan stuffs an entire piece of chicken in his mouth, and Sehun blanches at him.

“You’re going to choke.”

“’m no’.”

“Right…”

“Hey, Sehun?” Yixing asks, as Kris and Minseok fight over a piece of beef. “You still talk to the Tree, right?”

“Oh, yeah? It's more _listening_ than talking, but yes.” Since everything happened, it had stopped contacting most of them, but Sehun could still hear it when he slept. Part of him suspects this isn’t something the Tree can control.

“So do you know more about what happened to the Red Forces?” A pause. “Like… do we still have to worry?”

“Oh.” Sehun looks down at the table, and shakes his head. “They’re sealed away. As long as the Tree remains in good shape, we should be fine.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Well, now that this is over I have to… go back.” Back to his family. Back to _that place_.

“Do you?”

“I don’t really have any better options. I’ll play good until they deem me okay to leave.” Sehun looks back up, offering a smile. “Even if it take a while. Then I’ll come back. If I convince my parents, that’ll be enough, because they’re the ones who decide if I need to stay there.”

“Okay.” Yixing nods. Luhan, next to Sehun, wraps an arm around the other.

“It’ll be okay, kid. Once you’re all set and free and grown up, you can come stay with us.” Luhan turns to Minseok, who’s pulling Jongdae’s plate away from him. “Right Min?”

“Huh?” Minseok turns to them, then nods. Jongdae steals something from Minseok's plate, while he's distracted. “Yeah, sure?”

“See?”

“He doesn’t know what we’re talking about.”

“Baekhyun, I’m going to throw you out of a window.” Kyungsoo reaches to smack the other, drawing their attention back to the food arguments. “Stop making food invisible, I know it’s there!”

“Sometimes,” Junmyeon says, sighing deeply, “I like to pretend we’re all grown up, mature, adults. And then you speak, and I’m reminded I’m surrounded by children.”

“We can hear you.” Zitao pouts, only for Junmyeon to pat him on the head.

“I know.”

“Rude.”

“Mom doesn’t love us, confirmed,” Chanyeol says. “Dad, you still like us, right?”

“Maybe.” Kris shrugs, Chanyeol mocks offense.

“I’ll miss this,” Sehun says, laughing. Jongin snorts in laughter, across from him, and almost chokes on his food. Kyungsoo gives him a look of disgust before handing him a napkin.

“Next time you wont have to run away to have it,” Junmyeon says, simply. Sehun nods, smiling.

“Right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please send any plot complaints to 2014 me, thanks.  
i re-wrote what existed (or in some cases removed stuff, or added just a little) but in general this is just what i wrote back then.  
i'm not really sure how happy i am with it, generally, but i wanted the prose to be better, not the plot.
> 
> also this was part of a series (the second story to, which was better written, i started at cmb era, bc of the pathcode teasers). unfortunately that story was discontinued, but i'm thinking about re-writing what there was of it, too, and maybe- you know- finishing it, but with added stuff from era's since then.  
who knows.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated!


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